peacelily

Another fake-out or real news?

I went to Brown for undergrad, and I had a couple of friends in poly relationships who didn't have to be particularly discreet about it. Grad programs might be a bit less accepting than undergrad, since they are smaller, so you can't easily avoid closed-minded people if they are there... but I've found Brown to be generally pretty accepting of alternative lifestyles. I also know that there is a fairly large poly community in Boston, and there is a Boston poly livejournal group, which might be a good place to turn to with questions: http://community.livejournal.com/polyboston/

I think the point is that things like individual fit and the strength of your advisor are much more important than the strength of the program. So, for example, if you have one professor that you'd like to work with at a #1 program, but five professors at a #5 program, and all other factors are the same... of course #5 is better for you! There are tons of factors that can override the ranking - how well you mesh with your potential advisor's personality, how much you like the lab environment, how collaborative the department is, how well you get along with other students in the program, the stipend, the city, etc, etc. Rankings are pretty arbitrary, and are often less important than other aspects of the school. Besides, at the PhD level, we are all studying very narrow fields, and even a very well ranked department might not be very strong in a particular area that someone wants to research. I hope my response was in line with the topic... Frankly, I was a bit confused by this post. Just want to add: Of course, if a very well ranked school, such as Stanford, is also your best match, you should by all means go there! I don't believe that a good ranking is the most important factor in a decision, but as an added bonus, it definitely won't hurt =) P.S. Still don't know if my answer has anything to do with what you're asking.

To help old professors remember you, or to help any recommender, be sure to send them your latest CV and a draft of your SOP, as soon as you have it.

Has anyone heard from MIT Brain and Cognitive Sciences since the interview? Any estimate on when they might have decisions?

Indeed, Harvard interviewed and accepted folks a long time ago. I'm waiting for my rejection letter any day now. MIT BCS interviewed the week before last (March 6th was the main interview day). As far as I know, they have not made decisions yet.

I agree that it probably won't affect your chances - I didn't mean to imply that, sorry. I just mean that thank you emails are a common courtesy in interview world, and some people (generally more old-fashioned ones) regard them as a necessity, so they might think of an interviewee as rude if they don't get a thank you from her. I also agree about making emails personal - always a good idea to refer to something specific you talked about, like a particular area of their research that a professor described to you.

Definitely not strange or pushy. I've sent out short thank you emails to all professors I've met with. In fact, I've heard it's a bad idea not to send any follow-up thank you emails.

No offense, but I think that wearing a shirt with a university logo, even if it's your alma mater, to another university's interview/visit is inappropriate. In my opinion, it can easily give the wrong impression that you are more interested in that school than the one you are visiting.

Research assistant/tech positions. I'm not sure how this works in math, but in life sciences there are tons of these. To apply, just email professors you'd be interested in working with and ask if they are looking.

This is amazing!

humanature: I know it's hard not to, but I really wouldn't worry about it. I've heard that some programs stagger their offers over several weeks, maybe because the committee discusses people on separate days. Some potential POI's may be more forward about bugging the committee than others, so the people that more proactive professors want might get offers first. You'll probably hear soon! Best of luck.

I'm not sure if this is discipline-dependent, but I have heard that deferring is strongly frowned upon. Based on the fact that many schools forbid the option altogether, I would guess that you would have to have a very good reason to defer - such as hospitalization/serious illness, having to take care of a seriously ill family member, etc. I.e., not seeing your boyfriend for a couple of months would not be a very good reason. But like I said, I don't really know how it works - perhaps someone has more informed advice.

I see your point, and I'll chalk up your original statement at which I took offense to sloppy wording (you did refer to "someone in life sciences" in general). I'm sorry for taking this personally - I just think we should all be wary of anti-unfamiliar discipline rhetoric (heh), especially if we are accusing others of the same.

I think your statement is no less offensive than "English PhD is a waste of time and money". I'm a neuroscientist, and I've read quite a bit by Foucault, Derrida, Heidegger, etc. Just because I am in life sciences, does not mean I can't have other interests, or have a clue about philosophy or literary theory. Different people are interested in different things, and their professional field does not necessarily have to limit their worldview. I find your generalization pretty condescending.