Asya

Applied for DEB in November. Review panel met on 2/13/13. Just got a rejection email

I'm really sorry

Same here! It says that it's been under review since 2/13/13. I'm hoping that means it's a good sign. If they really didn't like it at all, they would've declined it right away, right? I'm sure that's not how it works, but I've convinced myself that it is because it gives me hope!

Oh man, I didn't mean to make you guys even more nervous. I was hoping to calm your nerves a little! I myself was a complete nervous wreck, though. I tried kiling time by watching shows on Netflix...it helped some!

I can't remember for sure, but I remember checking the list and seeing that it was still from the previous year for a little while. But then again, in my panicked and sleep-deprived state even 20 minutes may have seemed like an eternity!

I definitely stayed up until 2:30 last year...sleeping wasn't really an option. Oh, and I found out the results before the list was released by logging into my FastLane account once the site was back up and seeing "Welcome Fellow!" instead of "Welcome Applicant!" I decided to check back on this board because a couple of my labmates applied this year. Good luck everyone!!!!!!!!! Edit: I meant to say "2 years ago" and not last year. I got the award in 2011.

My fastlane proposal status page was apparently updated on March 22 (it had a January date listed as of Tuesday), but the status is still listed as "pending". It says that the review began on 2/23/13. Let the wait continue....

Never mind! I found it on FastLane. Apparently mine has been under external review since 2/13/13, as well.

Hey, where were you able to see the external review date?

Did anyone else apply in November? Any idea when I can expect to hear back? I'm assuming not until around April or May?

I e-mailed them last Tuesday and they got to me that same day, saying that they received both of my transcripts, but just haven't processed them yet. My application is complete...now starts the hardest part - the wait.

Purdue has an excellent ag program!!

I don't think you have to worry about narrowing down your interests just yet. I worked on 2 completely unrelated research projects as an undergraduate. The first one looked at the environmental impact on sex determination in an aquatic fern, and the second one looked at the effects of multiple pollen donors on the reproductive success of a flowering plant. Since I had no idea what I wanted to do, I spent my first semester in graduate school rotating between three labs. I didn't even know if I wanted to work in a molecular or an ecology lab!! All I knew is that I wanted to work with plants - that's it!! The rotations REALLY helped channel me toward what I loved doing most. Now I'm in my second year and I just selected my thesis topic at the beginning of the semester. It deals with climate change and community ecology - nothing even remotely related to my undergraduate research! So don't stress over narrowing down your research interests. Applying to graduate school is stressful enough! Just try to enjoy your senior year and your life as an undergraduate student!

I submitted my application on time and all of the letters are in, but the transcripts still haven't been received. Am I screwed, or is there a possibility that they just haven't updated my application status yet???? I'm so worried. I worked so hard on this

I'm glad that there are other plant lovers out there!! I'm actually already in grad school (second year). I'm at Purdue University now. I graduated with a B.S. in Biology from a small university in Northwest Pennsylvania. I was a nerd and graduated with a 4.0, but my GRE score was super low (1100 or something like that...and that was after taking it a second time...I guess my brain doesn't like standardized tests because I did really well on the essay part). The graduate school application process was horrible, partially because I was working on a full-blown research project while applying. I applied to 5 schools. I wrote 1 manuscript during my senior year at undergrad, which was accepted by the journal after I had started grad school. Now I'm part of an ecology lab. My dissertation research focuses on climate change and the spring ephemeral community - pretty fun stuff