rosebutter

I got an acceptance to UGA today! It's from the program director and it's unofficial, but they seem to suggest it's all but official and we're just waiting for the Graduate School to finalize everything. I can finally say with relative certainty that I WILL be starting a PhD in the fall! FWIW, the interview weekend was 1/30-2/1, so two full weeks passed. Today was the beginning of week 3 post-interview.

Interview invite to MSU plant bio was sent yesterday. I am over the moon!!

Wow, ouch!

I spoke by phone with a POI at MSU’s plant biology department who told me he is writing a letter to the adcom to advocate for my admission! Another POI there said he would “put in a plug” for me and I had a Skype conversation with a third. My impression is that interview invites will be sent out in early January, if anyone else is waiting to hear back from them. Fingers crossed! There are two more December 1st deadline programs I haven’t heard back from (Minnesota and UC Davis). I think I’m the only active user applying for plant bio programs this cycle so I’m just sharing with the void, I guess.

You both raise good points, @DRMF and @Logic. I’ve about tired myself out on this level of neurosis and I’m just hoping for a few more interviews at this point!

I got an email today inviting me to UGA's recruitment weekend for the Integrated Plant Sciences program! I'm very excited! I decided not to apply to my only "backup" school so getting any response is very encouraging!

I'm sure 2 minutes late will not preclude your application from being considered. The GRE thing kinda sucks, but it shouldn't take more than a couple days to transmit the results. I wouldn't fret.

I would only worry about getting things submitted as early as possible for programs with rolling admissions. If there is a deadline, submitting the day of should not be held against you, as long as all your materials are in.

What program did you apply to at MSU? I applied to Plant Bio and had what I thought was a good chat with a PI via Skype but I haven’t heard anything.

Thank you for the advice @ion_exchanger. As it turned out, my LOR writer’s home department reformatted all faculty emails and she hadn’t received anything from me or from the schools. She had the letter ready to go, though, so when I got her new email address everything was turned in on time!

First of all, it’s absolutely normal to be scared, anxious and questioning your capability before beginning a masters. I certainly was. If you didn’t feel that way and instead felt very “safe”, I would take that as a sign that the program doesn’t offer you much in the way of growth. Even if you end up really struggling, you owe yourself the chance to succeed. If you withdraw from the program before even starting, you will almost certainly regret it. Regarding job prospects, any amount of time in graduate school, even if you don’t finish the degree, will only be helpful. There is the networking aspect whether you finish your degree or not, and if you do, having been out of the workforce for 9 months beforehand will be much less relevant and having your masters will certainly make you a stronger applicant. Again, you owe yourself the chance to succeed. Anxiety = doubt + hope/excitement. Focus on everything this program can do for you if you put your all into it!

Hi all, My applications are all complete and submitted except my third LOR. They are the PI I worked with most recently and they often told me that I would be an excellent PhD student and they personally would be very disappointed if I didn't pursue a PhD, so I am not worried about the strength of their letter. I reached about in August or September about having them write an LOR for me and they agreed. Early-mid October, I submitted my apps and sent out the LOR request forms. Last Monday, I sent a polite reminder that the first deadline is 11/25 and the rest are 12/1 (i.e., 2-3 weeks from the time I sent that email). She has not responded. I know she had a baby (twins, I think) late September or early October and the lab has been scrambling to get results before a certain grant review deadline, so I'm sure she's very busy, but I'm starting to worry. I'm considering going by the lab in person - I'm not sure that she will be there (she was very in and out when I worked under her), but I feel like that may be less awkward than emailing her again. Or would that be confrontational? Should I just wait for the deadlines to come and go and hope she turns in my LOR at the last minute? It's too close to the deadline to ask a new person for a letter, and I'm not sure who else I could ask anyway. Any input would be greatly appreciated. My apps have been otherwise complete for weeks and it's frustrating to know they won't be reviewed until this LOR is submitted.

Hello all! I’ve been in the process of emailing potential PIs for several weeks. Many have responded commenting on the strength of my research background/academic record, etc (I have been attaching my CV), even if they’re writing to tell me they don’t have space in their lab. I’m wondering if this is a generic response to be nice, or if it may bode well for my chances for admission? I realize I am probably overthinking this, but most of the programs I’m applying to have fairly low admission rates and I fear that my application may not be strong enough. Should I take this as a sign of encouragement??

I would make your recommenders aware of the situation and let them know that they may not receive an email from the program until the deadline is pretty close, so they may want to have the letter ready to go, and apologize for any inconvenience.

I’m glad to hear that you had a good experience at UGA. I love that they have an integrated plant sciences program for those who aren’t sure if their interests are more closely aligned to, say, horticulture or genetics. I will look into CSHL and UTenn!

Hello all, I’m starting my fall 2020 applications for various plant sciences programs, but I can’t seem to find any recent posts about my field here. I’m interested in the plant genetics/breeding/biotechnology side of plant biology rather than the ecology side. Is there anyone else out there?? Where have y’all applied/are you looking to apply? My list is UMN, UW-Madison, MSU, UC Davis, NCSU, UAZ, and UGA although I’m worried my application may not be quite strong enough for their programs.

I tried to start my application to UC Davis today, but I got an error message saying no applications are available at this time. Does anyone know when they usually open?

Undergrad Institution: New College of Florida - small liberal arts college that is not very well known but has a very good reputation in natural sciences to those who know of it Major: Biology with a focus in plant cell & molecular biology GPA: N/A (school used narrative evaluations and a pass/fail system)Type of Student: domestic white female Masters: University of South Florida Major: Biotechnology GPA: 3.86GRE Scores (revised version): Q: 163 V: 167 W: 4.0 (lol >_<)Research Experience: Spent the last ~6 months of my master's working in a pancreatic cancer lab doing what my PI described as postdoc-level work (designing and executing in vitro assays using murine PC cells and immune cells with/without drug added, analyzed by flow cytometry) which culminated in a master's thesis. Spent ~3 months learning how to design flow cytometry panels, run samples, analyze data, maintain and troubleshoot machines and ran USF college of medicine flow cytometry core in the director's one-month absence. Wrote a ~150 page undergraduate thesis, including a lit review of cellular and molecular aspects of the plant gravitropic response and a bioinformatics-based exploration of potentially promising subjects of further study to answer remaining questions in the field. NSF REU at UC Riverside using confocal microscopy to study the development of a specific root tissue layer in Arabidopsis. Three month-long intensive research projects in undergrad: one focusing on bioinformatics, one focusing on cell and molecular lab techniques, and one focusing on field work studying disease on a hydroponic farm. No publications. :( The pancreatic cancer lab I worked in does have one or two manuscripts in preparation for submission now, on which I'm probably the ~4th author out of ~8 (I need to drop in to talk to the PI about this). Co-author on two presented posters and first author on a third poster.Awards/Honors/Recognitions: I received the highest level of Florida Bright Futures scholarship and the second-highest level of secured scholarships for incoming freshman in undergrad. That's really it I think? :(Pertinent Activities or Jobs: None :( Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: I have written two theses? Special Bonus Points: First-gen college student, Pell grant recipient. I think my LORs should be quite strong; one is from my undergrad academic/thesis advisor, with whom I worked very closely for most of my time in undergrad, another is from the PI whom I worked under in the PC lab, and the third will be from the director of my MS program. All three have repeatedly told me that they believe I would be an excellent PhD student. Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Not sure...Applying to Where: U of Minnesota (Twin Cities) - Applied Plant Sciences U of Wisconsin, Madison - Plant Breeding and Plant Genetics U of California, Davis - Plant Biology NCSU - Plant Biology MSU - Plant Breeding, Genetics & Biotechnology I want to apply to two other schools that are maybe easier to get into for similar programs - I fear that the programs I have listed above are simply too competitive. UMN has an acceptance rate of about ~34% for that program but the others are around ~15-20%. Does anyone have any suggestions on other schools I should look into? Or do y'all think I have a decent shot at getting into one of the programs I mentioned?