gadhelyn

Well, once again I apologize for initial responses. Guess I let the pretentious people get to me. I do have below a 3.0, and I do know I can keep above a 3 once I'm in grad school if I am not having to scrounge for money for food again.

But I still hold that GPA is not the end all be all and anyone with less than a 3.0 should not shy away from applying to grad school just because type A personalities fret over their 3.2 and 3.3s.

Sorry, yes, sensitive about my GPA, I have worked very hard to get a lot of other attributes that should make up for it. I worked to put myself through college, so I was either in class or at work and struggled to make enough, so I did not get a lot of time to study. Damn my pride :-)

People need to stop putting so much damn emphasis on your GPA for PhD programs. They look at EVERYTHING. I have way less than a 3.0 due to financial and personal factors that impeded my ability to spend time studying and I got an interview at a PhD program, have a chance at getting in. Being a good undergrad does not necessarily mean you're a good academic, just that you can memorize and spit back out for exams.

Thank you! I feel like I'm worthy! WOOOOOOOOOOO! And it's one of my tied for number 1 schools!

I just got an invite to interview at Kansas!!

* HAPPY DANCE * I just got an interview, I just got an interview! Univ. of Kansas just sent me an email tonight inviting me to an interview! I'll be in Lawrence March 1-2. They want me to give a 20-30 minute presentation of my work. And they're paying for the flight!!!!

If ya'll have access to Nature, you may want to check out the cover story in the latest issue on when grants end. It follows the stories of 2 researches who had all of their grants removed because of decreases in funding. Kinda scary, hopefully they'll be over with by the time we're ready for our own grants.

This is for an academic degree, not a job, no matter how much like a job it may seem. Just because some middle-aged guy who's been working for GlaxoSmithKline for 15 years with a BS in Biology is applying to the same programs I am does not necessarily push me out of the running. I would venture a guess that many people who are turning to grad school as an escape from unemployment have not attended a class in years, and a good chunk of them have probably been working jobs that aren't relevant to the degree. If I were on an adcomm I would take time away from the classroom and relevancy of employment as some markers of who'd I'd look for. Someone who's been out of a classroom for 15 years doing quality control for a pharmaceutical may not have as much appeal as someone who's been out of a classroom for 1-2 years doing bench research. Someone who's been doing human resources or administrative assistant work since graduating college may not have as strong of a chance of getting into a literature program. My point is the qualifications that people in "real world jobs" have been acquiring are probably not useful for a grad program admission. Or at least that's what I want to believe.

My Dad's very supportive. He sent me some money earlier in the app process to help pay for fees. He's a M.D. doctor himself (pediatrics), and he's just really happy to have me going into something biology. Both my parents are really happy I applied to Kansas, what with the huge family history there. I applied there for undergrad, but didn't go because they didn't offer enough fin aid. Dad's also been very helpful in keeping the hopes up (along with everyone else I run into). I call him weekly to talk with him about it, he reassures me that I'll get in somewhere, he believes I'll have to choose from all 4. Plus he lives out in the mountains in a neat little house that is fun to visit when I'm about to zonk out at work.

It stopped?

Happy Monday! Once again, good luck to everyone!

I wouldn't see it as a weakness as long as it's within the same general field (EE professional -- EE academics). I have no LOR from professors who taught any of my classes. Mine are all from fairly well-known researchers in biochemistry relating to endocrinology. They know how well I can handle research, and so I see their letters as a very strong point. I guess it comes down to whether the employer LORs say things that would be good in a grad school. Saying that you're a good EE employee and that you're good with EE can be two different things. So, anyway, my point is as long as you have proven to your employer that you are good with EE, and not just a good employee, and they've conveyed this, then I'm sure you have strong LOR.

Groups larger than 20 might cause anger and annoyance within the adcomm, having the groups at 20 is already asking a lot of them. If it works the same way as in biochemistry, as long as the results are very similar within the same conditions, all you really need is 3.

I don't think you can say that with given data, it might be a statistical fluke. In order to say GRE doesn't matter we'll need to do this: Have a good sized group (say, 20 people) who all have similar GPAs, references, honors, statements, experience and good GRE scores and apply to a program. Then take another similar group and have them purposely do badly on the GRE and apply. Compare acceptance rates with statistical T-test. Then have individual groups that have almost the same great attributes across the board, but then have them do something weird, like a bad GPA, unknown references, or a lot of grammar mistakes in the statement. Have them apply. Eventually you'll need to test every combination of attributes to see if it truly is just the GRE that doesn't matter. By doing this you can show the % acceptances with different attributes. This assumes it all passes the T-test and that the conditions at the school and department don't change during the experiment.

I would sell my soul for an acceptance letter* *Buyers of souls: Upon reading the above statement agree to relinquish their soul to the author of the above statement instead of buying the author's soul. Please see: http://xkcd.com/501/

Not only that but the number of students that apply and can be accepted can change vastly over time. In recessions, grad school applications increase and while a program might admit, say, 20 people one year, the next they might only have space and money for 5.

Forgive me, but I must post a theory with a really bad joke. So you know how they had to enter the numbers into the computer all the time? What if the computer was linked to another computer underneath the hatch that every 108 minutes wants to divide a number. Every 109 minutes it defaults to zero, unless a list of other choices are given. When Locke stopped them from entering a list of choices, the computer divided by zero and the hatch went haywire.

I really really want to blow something up, maybe some dry ice or a balloon filled with hydrogen.

She was in Aaron's room. Kate heard her, came in, and Claire was bending over Aaron, stood up and told Kate not to bring him back, but then Kate woke up so it was sort of a dream but with the Island's dead I'm counting it as being seen off the Island.

I went into exhaustive stress last night. Didn't feel like doing anything, didn't want to watch TV, didn't want to cook. I hate the limbo. I don't like my job, but what's the point of quitting if I'm going to be going to grad school in several months? My wife's in the same boat, she's hoping we can move so she can have a good reason to quit her job too. I can't really look at apartments and houses for rent because we don't know where we'll have to live. I go back and forth between good days ("I have more research experience than most, I should be a shoo in, despite my GPA") to my bad days ("They haven't sent me a letter yet cause they've already cut me and won't sent out the negative letters until last"). It's not very fun. I guess this is what I get for wanting to be in such a new field. Edit: Tonights, I agree fully about the video games. Heh, if there are enough people on here with, say, Mario Kart Wii we can all get online and have a Future Grad Student 500 :-D

Theory: Ben knows Jin is alive because no one off the Island has seen Jin. Who have the main characters seen off the Island? Christian, Claire (really, there's no way she'd survive that attack), Mr. Eko, Ana-Lucia, Charlie. Anyone else?

I wouldn't know much about the job market, my job was promised to me before graduation. Chapel Hill without a car is doable but not fun. Our newest med fellow is from Italy and until recently she was car-less. She couldn't get to a lot of good restaurants, the airport took all day, groceries were exhausting. While there is a good bus system in Chapel Hill, it's only really useful if you're wanting to get to campus. It's mostly an all-roads-lead-to-UNC deal. If you wanted to go to North Chapel Hill and you were in Meadowmont, you'd have to take the S or the V to campus then catch an NS or a D. In short: bring a car.

I found a perfect way of distracting myself during the day: science marathon. We isolated pre-osteoblast cells from mouse calvaria Took a good 4 hours. But lately with results the stress has proven that I tend to lose my patience, which is why I am not applying to med school. (I'm so, so sorry you all had to be subjected to my horrible humor, please forgive me)

It might be a lie if I say I'll calm down once I get the first acceptance, but I'll definitely shift what I'm worried about. Right now I'm worried that I'll be stuck here another year. I don't want to delay getting into grad school (and out of this lab).