Kitkat

I think that it depends on what field you want to go into. Some friends of mine are trying to get into grad school for petrology/field/metamorphic and igenous geology, and the more interesting geology is out in the Rockies for that, and that is generally where the good programs are in those fields. The stuff that I am researching now, in paleo-oceanography, I don't think that it is specifically very localized. The field that I want to go into, most of the programs are in the northeast, not so much that they are in interesting areas, but because they are the best collections. As for geochemistry and geophysics, I guess it depends on what you want to focus for research.

That is what I plan on doing. I'm currently trying to tie together what my career interests are with what I am definite about as far as research is concerned. I am also going to try to tie in what I am doing now and what I have done in the past that brought me here as well. But trying to do this all at once, I feel like one to two pages is going to be interesting to do. Not necessarily hard,and I have heard that if you can write well concisely, it shows how good of a writer you are. One of the things mentioned by some of the schools is they want to know who you would want to work with and why. And I am sure that they would like to know why I would want to work in their labs as well. And I don't want to just say that I think that what they are doing is awesome, please take me, but at this point I am "I know that I am interested in this specific field, and within these two sub fields, but don't have specific questions that I am interested in." I feel like right now I have to read up more on the literature in the field to know what the questions are, before I can say what types of things I would want to work in. I'm currently not working on research that I want to go into, but am not that far away from it. So maybe I should work around this point for now, do more reading up on the labs I am interested in, and add more specifics when I feel more confident about it?

Hey fuzzy, Great advice, thank you. I know that this is a bit off topic of what the OP started with, and this goes out to other people as well if you have any advice. I am wondering if you have any advice on how to keep it professional, but still make yourself stand out from the crowd in your personal statement. Generally, we can keep accomplishments and previous work done out of the way unless it directly ties into what we want to do in the future, since they can see that in other parts of the application. This frees up space to show why and how you are the best candidate. But what do you think is the best way to do this without boring them? I know not to get too creative. But I don't want them to feel like they are reading the same thing that they have read 500 times already this application season either! Thanks to everyone!

One of the things that they ask for in the SOP is what you want to do in the future with this degree. I am assuming that for the most part that they want to see that you know what the purpose of getting a grad degree is good for in your chosen field. But how specific do I need to get with what my current goals are in the SoP. I know I want to do research, work in a museum/curate, and teach some. I am going to be in the sciences, so any advice pertaining to that would be great. I have currently have a fairly focused idea of what I want to research in grad school, but do not currently have a specific thing that I have all planned out that I want to research when/if I get into grad school for the fall of 2012, just a good idea of who I would like to work with. I am wondering how important this is and if I should focus more in the SoP.

hedge bets

I'm going to be trying to work in the department that I would hopefully be working in if I get into for the Ph.D. program. The nice thing about the volunteer program is that you can request to work behind the scenes at the museum. So defiinately more research related then giving tours.

world peace

Right now I am thinking about volunteering at one of the museums that is associated with the schools that I am applying to. Considering that what I want to do in the future at this point in time is to end up doing is research in a museum. I am applying this fall, but want to do this just for the experience. Do people think that this is a good idea or a bad idea?

socialist agenda

third rail

answering machine

film negative

As another thing, what I am wondering is how well did you specify in your SoP what exactly you wanted to study and why you knew what you wanted to study? Also, did you specifically name any PI's who's lab that you were specifically interested in working in? I have heard of cases where this helps when applying to grad schools, that it shows how focused you are, and that you really do know what you want, and that you are applying to that school for a good reason. I think that what they are looking for is that you are wanting to do something that is similar enough to what the POI's are doing that it would actually work well with them, and help them long term as well. Anybody else have more good advice for proving yourself to adcomms?

curve ball

From what I have gathered, asking for LORs around September is a good time to get them. I understand wanting to getting them done sooner, but maybe this time scale would be good for finding more people to write you and LOR? I mean I know the feeling of wanting to ask people early to see if they are willing to write you one, and if not, still have enough to find some one new to write you one. But there is also the problem is that if you ask too soon that they forget somewhere between the time that you ask and the time that it is due. A lot of schools ask that the LORs get sent straight to them and not through the student who is applying. And I completely understand not having enough contact with people who are in a good position to write you a LOR. It's always a problem at big schools and in large programs.

healthy outlook

working hypothesis

empty space

big city

I know that there is a limited amount you should depend on admission numbers from year to year. It really depends on lab fit and everything else that you hand in with your application. But does anyone have a general how though it is to get into a Ph.D. graduate program, possibly if you know, compared to other programs in general at any given school? From what I can tell, from results here and other sources, it is somewhat easier to get in to Earth Science/Geology/Geosciences then other programs based on the numbers alone, but might be made harder based on fit and the like. It seems like it is harder to tell just because it is a smaller field then many other sciences. I mention this after looking at the small results pages for the geo fields and am wondering how accurate that is, I don't want to get my hopes up. The people who were similar to me in numbers might have had a lot more exp then me in research, better SoPs, better fit, then me for all I know. Want to know what other people are thinking.

store front

So while I have not actually applied yet, I'm doing so this fall for next year, but I will tell you about my adventures in the process so far. When I got my BS, I still didn't know what I wanted to do with my life. Worked for a while, thought about it for a while. Now I have a better idea of what I actually DO want to do, am going back and doing post back work that is giving me more background for what I want to do. Now I have been getting ready to apply for grad school. My main concerns right now are, 1) who to get as my third recommendation letter( one is from the PI in the lab I am working in, another reason why I went for my post bacc was to get research experience, and the other is my adviser, who I am taking some grad classes with this fall as well), 2) my SoP and 3) finalizing my list of schools that I want to apply to. Part of the reason for starting my SoP so soon is to help me focus what I specifically want to do in grad school. It's been helping alot. Right now I am doing just a general focus on what I want to do, with the plan of what I like in each school that I am applying to. Being so focused on what I want to do has been hugely helpful in figuring out what I am looking for in a program and what I want to do for future research, so I am hoping this will focus the more individual parts of the SoP, and why I wanted those programs/labs in the first place. My biggest problem about the whole process so far has been how long it took me to figure out what I wanted to do with myself, and how little there advice there is early on in the process. How many people know that what they want to do is work in research when they are 18? If you are lucky you know in you're junior year, and you might have already built in a handicap/problem in your application that you now have to explain away, and in many cases that is if you're lucky. This is not to say that everyone is like that. Some people know when they start. Some people do very well the first time around. But then there is still the lack of advice. Unless you are lucky enough to have someone tell you to get experience in a lab or what ever it is you need to get your hands dirty and get experience, you're starting to be left behind.

speaking up

public school