UnlikelyGrad

Well, when I was accepted to a UC Davis interdisciplinary program last year (and this was before the economy really imploded), they initially had no funding for me. They eventually scraped one quarter of funding & told me that I would have to get into a research program (or pay my own way) after that. So I talked to professors about research funding and they all said the same thing: "Well, I usually get funding from X State Agency, but I don't think I'm getting anything this year." I hear it's even worse this year.

You win the prize. Hilarious.

The offer I ended up accepting had a March 31 deadline. I contacted them and said that I was definitely interested, but I didn't feel like I could make a final decision until early April, as one of my school visits was scheduled for April 2. They said that, since I'd let them know, it was fine to take longer. They wanted to know before April 15 so that, if I were going to turn them down, they could offer someone else my funding before the April 15 deadline. Basically I think people don't want an applicant to be stringing along 5+ schools until the very last minute...this was one of my top 2 choices (I told them so when I asked for an extension) so they were happy to give me extra time.

Just email and say that weekend doesn't work for you; ask if you can come at any other time (suggest a few possibilities). Note that in order to visit at an unusual time, you generally have to go on a weekday, when everyone's around.

For me, conversations invariably start the same but take one of two paths: Person: What are you studying? Me: Geochemistry (silence for about 30 seconds) Response 1: Errrr. Nice. So what is that, anyway? Response 2: So, ummm. Does that have any real world connection? I find it pretty hilarious that it takes everyone a while to figure out what to say after I tell them my course of study. Everyone is pretty darn clueless about what geochem is or does. Though I don't blame them...I didn't know anything about it until about 4 years ago.

For me, without a doubt, TRANSCRIPTS: (1) Some of the schools I submitted transcript requests to took a month to even process my request. (2) Even after transcripts had been mailed, 2 of the 9 schools I applied to "lost" the transcripts that were in my maiden name, even though both of the apps had specifically asked if I had ever done work under any other name. I did figure this out at the end of January and contacted the schools, who "miraculously" suddenly found my transcripts. One of the schools rejected me and I wonder if this is why. (I saw on the results page that they'd been accepting people for a while before my file was completed, so it's possible that they filled their slots before I even came into contention.) The other school had a rather late app date, so no one had even taken a peek at my file yet. I got in, and I ended up going there. But I was still a little irked by the idiocy of the grad admissions office.

I agree with the other posters--ask the inviting school for a different date. I did that when I visited my current U--had a big test the date of their visit date! They were happy to accommodate me. The nice thing was, since I came a week before the other applicants, I had the whole department to myself...and current grad students falling over themselves to be the ones to show me around. Asking your professors at your current school to reschedule tests etc. should be a back-up option.

FYI, I had the same problem with UMich last year. Basically, I was told that the application software is run by the graduate admissions program, but the recs/transcripts go straight to the department. I emailed the department directly and they had all the stuff.

I've never had any regrets at all. My husband frequently regrets the school I picked, but that's another story!

I posted on the other thread, but here it is again, with a few more details. I had to send transcripts from FIVE undergraduate institutions. At one of those, the one where I did my first two years, I failed six classes my freshman year (everything frosh year was graded P/F). My sophomore year I scraped a 1.9 for the first two quarters, then took a leave of absence when it became clear that I was going to do even worse the third quarter. I had a kid while I was an undergrad (junior year). Plot my GPA quarter-by-quarter and you will see it head downwards when he was born and get progressively worse over time. I was a stay-at-home mom for fifteen years. I hadn't done any research at the time I applied (almost a requirement for Chem grad programs). I had no publications. Nor had I ever done any professional work in my field, since I went home to be with my kids as soon as I graduated with my bachelor's. My subject GRE was above 50th percentile, but below the 70th percentile generally considered desirable for top schools. Results: I got into four of nine schools, one of which was a top-10 chemistry grad program. WOOT. Although I only got in after visiting (while waitlisted) and knockin' the socks off the professors I talked to. Then I turned that school down.

Mine took 3-4 weeks to arrive after I submitted my application. Still, I think it would be good to call them just in case.

I made do without one for years, but ended up wanting one once I got here. Of course, I'm in lab a lot, and it sure is handy to have a computer on hand to crunch your data on the spot. (Some of the high-tech instrumentation even has a USB port so I can transfer the data directly to my computer.) Need? No, I could do without. But it sure makes my life a lot easier. (Side note...before I bought my laptop I made do with computer lab/ library computers. But there wasn't always one available when I needed one. Also, the department theoretically provides computer access to grad students--but there's only one computer per office, so six grad students per computer.)

Wow. That's quite a paper. I feel better about my chances now!

Good question!! I would like to know too, since I'm already in a grad program--my thought was that it would work the other way! (This is based on anecdotal evidence, of course--three of my siblings are former GRF recipients, and they all won it during application season.)

FYI: If you do get a GRF, notify the schools you've applied to immediately. If you come with guaranteed funding, they're far more likely to take you in.

Oh I remember, all right! I was pretty miffed about it then, since I "needed" to check Gradcafe every 15 minutes back then...

How cool! I used to teach a class on light search and rescue techniques (for civilians--wish I could have had the training to do the heavy stuff). I would love to do it again; I only gave it up because I moved.

A not-so-negative post about my negatives. Written especially for Catilina. I applied last year. I had to send transcripts from FIVE undergraduate institutions. At one of those, the one where I did my first two years, I failed six classes my freshman year (everything frosh year was graded P/F). My sophomore year I scraped a 1.9 for the first two quarters, then took a leave of absence when it became clear that I was going to do even worse the third quarter. I was a stay-at-home mom for fifteen years. I hadn't done any research at the time I applied (almost a requirement for Chem grad programs). I had no publications. Nor had I ever done any professional work in my field, since I went home to be with my kids as soon as I graduated with my bachelor's. Here's the kicker: I got in. I got in to four of the nine schools that I applied to. And you know what? I'm outperforming many of my fellow students who came straight from undergrad.

When I was an applicant (last year), I didn't get my first positive response until 2/1. I think my second acceptance didn't come until the very end of Feb or the beginning of March. Rejections didn't start coming in until mid-March or so. Now, I did notice during this time that other people were being accepted (same school, same program) a couple of weeks before I got my letter. So clearly they send out acceptances to their superstar applicants first. But you know what? Once I got my own acceptance to that school, I didn't care that they were first--I was IN!!!!

Be glad you did.

I visited one school before they made a decision. One. I visited because I was speaking at a (non-academic) conference nearby (the conf. paid my plane fare & hotel). My sister lived in the city where the university was located, taught at the school in fact; I planned to come down to visit her anyway, so figured I ought to kill 2 birds with one stone. Note that when I came by the department, at least one of the faculty I spoke with double-checked my story as to why I was in town. We talked about the conference (his best friend's sister was one of the organizers) and about my sister (he made a note of her name & department so he could check my story). I honestly feel that my visit was one of the reasons I ended up getting into the school--I made a very good impression on the guy who probably would have been my advisor. But I also believe that if I'd made the trip with the sole intent of visiting the chem department, my chances wouldn't have been so good.

Although geochemistry is usually lumped into the earth sciences, at my school it's considered an interdisciplinary program which includes a lot more chemistry stuff than most programs. My thesis is going to be a mish-mash of chemistry, geology, and environmental engineering.

Even if you weren't feeling suicidal, you'd be depressed enough to warrant professional help. I suffer from chronic depression. It sucks.

Ditto.

Nope. BTW, research experience in 400 characters? Bah!