UnlikelyGrad

A suggestion: if you're coming from a not-well-known university, and if you really think that's the only thing that's holding you back, try applying to master's programs at lower-ranked US universities (ranking 30-50). You're more likely to get into one of those. Then you can use that as a springboard to applying to top 20 universities for Ph.D. programs.

I agree. I also liked his suggestion of writing a paragraph a day. I'm going to do that.

Actually, I was thinking of getting it as an introductory course for my kids... One thing I learned over 15 years of homeschooling is that there is no perfect curriculum for anything. No matter what you buy, it will have shortfalls, and you'll have to buy something else to fill in those gaps.

I originally learned German through immersion but have recently checked out some materials to brush up on it. I second the nomination for Dover's Essential German Grammar. It's a good, thorough book, and it's cheap. I have friends who swear by Rosetta Stone for learning languages, but I've never checked it out myself. Jenn, thanks for the websites!

If you've actually submitted it you can mention it. Anything earlier in the process, no. If your scores are lousy, it does have a big impact. If your scores are fantastic (1550+) it will also have a big impact. If they're mediocre, then people may not care. Don't apply to grad school w/o knowing this! Really, if you don't have research interests that align with a faculty member's, you're unlikely to get in. If you have no research interests, you really shouldn't be doing a PhD. If you still don't know what you want to do by fall, then I would say you should get some work experience first--maybe it will help you clarify what you do (or at least don't) like. Depends what field of CS you're going into.

Not everyone has such a negative view of things... I hear that computer companies like to hire people with a knowledge of topology, I think for graphics purposes. This is only gossip though--I only have a fuzzy idea of what topology is. I just happen to know a lot of computer geeks (one of whom has an MS math and makes boatloads of money). The article StatlyDude posted just made me roll my eyes. Sure, academia is a hard field to break into (I only give myself a 30% chance of making it) but there are plenty of fields in which PhD's are highly sought after. The woman they cited as a prime example got an excellent job offer right off the bat, she just turned it down! And true, grad school doesn't teach you how to do stuff like manage people, but you need those skills as an academic as well. The whole point of doing a PhD is to learn to acquire new skills without having them spoonfed to you in class...people management is such a skill. [statly Dude also posted a personal attack which will be deleted--someone is obviously bitter. Disregard him.)

I ended up having both sorts of orientation, school-wide and department specific. But the department was slow to work out details so I only found out about the latter about two weeks before I got here. If you haven't heard anything from the department, email someone to see if they have such a meeting. Given how much graduation requirements can differ from one department to another, I think it would not make any sense to go to another department's orientation.

I agree, but don't do what my mom did when I was in grade school and pack the same thing every day. I like to make things that freeze well--I make in big batches and pull out whatever tickles my fancy for lunch. Vegetable soup plus rolls (I admit to getting the latter off the bargain rack, though I also freeze them), quiche (eggs are really cheap here--I use them as a meat substitute all the time), stir-fry w/ assorted veggies, crepes with various fillings, burritos... I do the same thing for dinners as well. Beats having to cook every day; some days I just come home exhausted.

Not really....depends what sort of button-down shirt you wear. I didn't mean a dress shirt, for crying out loud. I was thinking of something with a cool pattern, like a Hawaiian shirt. (My husband usually wore either paisley or plaid.)

Ah, c'mon, joro, you're in CS! Jeans and a button-down shirt will be fine....says the wife (of 20 years) of a CS guy. Seriously, I've seen CS grad students in many locales (state universities to famous institutions) and they were all wearing jeans and T-shirts. Wearing a button-down shirt will make you look like you've "dressed up"... As for being unprepared, I think every grad student I know felt that way going in. God knows I did. Yet we all ended up doing just fine. Your worry is a sign that you are willing to move mountains to succeed, and so you will.

Not sure, but any degree from Caltech, MIT, or Stanford is worth a lot.

I'm glad there are more of me out there! Yes, I like to joke that I am the original Hermione Granger--at age 11 I was a bushy-haired, buck-toothed girl who was constantly waving her hand in the air. I learned to tame my hair somewhat, braces helped with the buck teeth, but by golly, I came to grad school with the waving-hand habit still firmly entrenched. I'd tried to stop it in the past, unsuccessfully. So I made a new goal: to count to 30 before answering a question. This gives other people a chance to answer first. Here are my goals for this year: (1) Exercise more. I think better after I exercise. Also, I've been exercising so much less since going to grad school that I put on 10+ pounds in my first year. Bleah. (2) Read at least 10 scholarly papers a week, and submit one of my own. My methodology development is coming along nicely, and I actually have some results...just need to smooth out the wrinkles. I've already started writing the introduction section. (3) Come up with one question to ask at every seminar (colloquium) I attend. I know a senior grad student who does this and he seems to understand everything better. I guess he has to listen more carefully in order to come up with a question. Of course I have longer-term goals as well, but I keep those quiet.

IF you are willing to take any academic job, then a big city should work fine for you. I know someone who had the "two-body problem"-- his wife already had a tenure-track job in NYC when he went on the academic market. He ended up getting a job at a place with no grad students, so will have to put up with undergrad researchers only. He is not particularly happy about that part but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. And I should add that my superstar little sis turned down job offers from some big names (top 10) because she (and her husband, too) didn't want to live in those areas. She is now at a middle-tier school in an area she loves.

A guy in our department, who is about to defend his dissertation, did this. It took him about 8 years to get his PhD, though--despite the fact that he already had a Master's degree. So it's possible, but don't expect to get through in a normal time frame.

They do it anyway. Even if you tell them you are old enough to be their mother and, in fact, have a son their age. But oh well.

What matters most of all is what you plan to specialize in. You will NEED to specialize in something. Basically, you need to decide among the following three options: atmospheric stuff, aquatic stuff, and soil stuff. My oldest sister and I are theoretically both doing environmental stuff (she's a tenured Env Eng prof) but she does atmospheric research and I do aquatic chemistry (though I'm trying to jump over to the soil field). I understand only a small amount of what she does and vice versa. Biogeochemistry is actually what I do all day, every day. (It actually is 7 days/week sometimes!) There are quite a few people in this field at my school. Some are more biology-oriented and spend all of their time culturing stuff and seeing how it reacts with things. Some are very chemistry oriented, like my advisor; she struggles with the "bio" part and knows almost nothing about geology staples like mineralogy and soils. And some are very geology oriented though I have less contact with these...I'm working on it though! If you are talking about going into ecology as in habitat protection, then you would want a strong biology background...but you would also want to think about what possible risks there are to your habitat of choice. Wetlands--probably organics from agricultural runoff (take organic chem). Mountains--toxic metals from acid mine drainage (maybe take inorganic chem but DEFINITELY take analytical). And so on... You really can't make this decision without having a VERY SPECIFIC long-term plan...if you have one, let me know and we'll talk.

Speaking as someone on the science side of environmental issues--if you want to get into the science side, you're going to need to have a decent science background. At the very least, a year of general chemistry and some biology/ecology...I personally think organic chem would be very useful (since most of the environmental issues people worry about are organic chem...the stuff I do is not in the forefront of people's minds). What is your science background?

Buy yourself a cheap lab coat and you'll automatically look 10,000 times more professional than your students. That's what I did.

I think that you have good work experience for your field and that will trump a lot of negatives. However, in your shoes I would study hard and give the GRE one more shot. For a decent shot at a good school you want to get at least 1200, though 1400 would be better. You aren't that far off of 1200 though, I think that's definitely doable.

Don't worry, joro, I took care of it.

California has weird laws regarding government assistance. We looked into getting on the program several years ago, when my husband was out of work and I was only working part time. However, we didn't qualify for some reason--I think because we had 2 cars. Or maybe because we had too much equity in our home? Well, some program rejected us for having 2 cars...might have been Medical...and I know we were definitely not eligible for food stamps, despite having an income < $10k and 4 children.

No, it's 8.75% as the base state sales tax, plus counties are allowed to add up to 1% sales tax. Most bay area counties do, which is why you're accustomed to paying 9.75% sales tax. Trust me, I used to run a retail business in California; I've filled out enough sales tax returns to know how the darn thing works. (Actually, what I wrote above is the simplified version...it gets very messy. California sales tax returns suck.) eta: and no, staple food items are not taxed. If I remember correctly, it's only ready-to-eat foods (restaurants, deli meals at the supermarket, etc.) which are taxed.

Two of my sisters have master's degrees from Berkeley, and they always dressed in jeans and T-shirts. (I know one TAed, can't remember if the other one did or not.) Of course one was in the sciences and the other was in engineering...in your shoes, I would wait until you get there to see what's appropriate. If you're getting dressy clothes, I second the poster who recommended getting custom tailoring done in China. My parents did this last time they went to visit my brother and were flabbergasted at how cheap it was.

I got a 790 and I probably knew only half of the words in the Barron's book. So I think that JustChill is probably right.

Unfortunately, it depends entirely on not only the school, but also the department. In your shoes I would treat the first day the way I advise people to dress for a visit: black jeans, nice button-down shirt, non-scruffy shoes. My department is very informal. I only dress up when lecturing in a classroom or presenting. (Most of my teaching last year was labs, and wearing my nice clothes to lab--where students are always spilling acid, etc.--would be stupid.) But then, I'm in the sciences, where things tend to be über-casual. An English grad student might need to be a bit more dressy.