Faraday

creepy things

barn animals

"Ruby Falls" by Guster

I received an email from a member of the admissions committee on Dec. 3rd asking for me to set up a time to talk with him on the phone so I could ask him questions about the department (it felt nice being the one conducting the interview for a change! ). We talked on Dec. 5th and when we finished talking he said that I was unofficially accepted although they still needed my transcripts. The official offer came via email on Dec. 20th. He said my application "stood out above the rest", my GPA/GREs are not great so hopefully this means my research experience/SOPs, and I’m also a Maryland resident. The official application deadline isn't until February so they must review things on a rolling basis, but I don't know if that is how your program works. Good luck!

nail biter

pillow talk

down blanket

calm night

Don't overthink things, make sure you worst enemy doesn't lie between your own two ears. Be confident that you did a great job, and look forward to the future, don't look in the rearview mirror too long!

errant breeze

When quickly reading your essay, two things popped out. One, as was already mentioned, you didn't properly address the topic at hand, or at least not exactly. You scrape the surface of the general topic they are asking in your third paragraph when you start to talk about what life in a city is like vs. life outside of a city, but then you move on since you were not exactly thinking about that. I would have written the entire essay on essentially what you mentioned in the third paragraph. Discuss a few specific examples about life in a city vs. life outside of a city and point out how the original statement (To understand the most important characteristics of a society, one must study its major cities) would apply or not apply in those cases. Then of course you would want to wrap up everything you presented at the end in a “supported” or “not supported” stance. What you choose to argue is irrelevant, you just need to present the examples and explain them in a manner that supports that final position. The second thing that jumped out to me was your lack of "flow". I'm not an English major in any way but your essay didn't really have much flow, it seemed choppy, like you were jumping around to different topics. What you talked about in your introduction/closing paragraphs was not exactly what you talked about in the body of the essay, and the body itself seemed to jump around (talking about a facade, talking about paragraph three, and then finally talking about the communication). The bottom line with the GRE writing section is not necessarily to be right, but to build an argument and support it. I can’t speak to grammar and such but it is my understanding that as long as your grammar doesn’t take away from your argument and how you support that argument it has a minimal effect. What you've said here isn't wrong or right, it's poorly constructed and supported. Don't get disheartened however, for a first GRE practice writing section this is pretty good! You have room for improvement and you will get better! Think about constructing a good argument!

I don't know why anyone would have expected anything else. The real national championship game was played a few weeks ago in Atlanta. Notre Dame football is pretty good but there's the SEC, and then there is everyone else... Alabama, Georga, LSU, and Florida are in a league of their own.

fog warning

brain dump

Wow, what a conincidence! Currently, by The Decemberists.

elephant tusks

seven continents

Thanks! Don't sweat it, you'll hear back soon enough and hopefully the feeling of getting accepted will be well worth the wait!

life cycle

Buffalo chicken pizza is where it's at, with any assortment of extra toppings depending on what I feel like. Black olives are always delicious.

incomplete sentence

Yes, I was accepted to two schools. Chemistry programs typically do not conduct interviews. If you take a look at the Chemistry forum you can see there are a lot of folks who have already heard back from schools.

by Bon Iver

As one of the "science folks" I was been fortunate enough to hear back from two programs for a PhD in Chemistry before the winter break. It's still quite early though so I am as anxious as anyone to hear back from my top choices, but there is a certain peace of mind knowing I will have some options to choose from come April. Hang in there, you'll hear back soon!

If they were not seriously considering your application, they probably wouldn't waste time asking you this question, so I think it's a good sign!