InquilineKea

I have an incomplete course left to finish, and I'm sacrificing a lot in order to finish it. Could I simply delay finishing it until January, and then submit it before the decisions come in mid-February?

And is it ever a good idea for the applicant to encourage them to share information with each other?

Yeah exactly - that's why I was thinking of asking for a LOR from a non-academic - because it's easier to get different points from someone who knows me from a different setting (Quora), but who could still comment on attributes like ingenuity, communication skills, and depth of thinking.

Wait - is it bad if a professor thinks they're second choice? For the ones who don't know me as well - I simply tell them that I haven't had as much interaction with them as some others. For me, I simply equate quantity with quality, and don't make any mention of quality. That's all.

Well, Physics/Math too. Chemistry is also notoriously brutal (and competitive). And in the Humanities, it's shit impossible.

So that you're not completely fucked over for top physical science departments if you make just a few stupid mistakes on it?

A non-academic who really knows the person well, and how suited the person is for research?

I have chronic issues myself, and I've finally bought an ergonomic chair. But I'm not sure how much it will help. My pain has been progressively worsening over the last half-year. I've tried to get my neck to lean back as much as possible. I also exhaustively researched all my options over at http://www.quora.com...onomics/answers I will definitely have to see a doctor sometime. But right now, I'm so paranoid of wasting time (it usually takes weeks to actually get some results when you talk to doctors) that I'm delaying the issue until all my grad apps are in. I'm asking here since this could be an issue with us PhD students (as many of us spend hours and hours on the computer or reading books/papers).

______________________________________________ Undergrad Institution: (School or type of school, such as big state, lib arts, ivy, technical, foreign (what country?)... Overall Reputation in your area?) Major(s): Minor(s): GPA in Major: Overall GPA: Position in Class: (No numbers needed, but are you top? near top? average? struggling?) Type of Student: (Domestic/International, male/female, minority?) GRE Scores (revised/old version): Q: V: W: Subject: TOEFL Total: (if applicable, otherwise delete this) Research Experience: (At your school or elsewhere? What field? How much time? Any publications (Mth author out of N?) or conference talks etc...) Awards/Honors/Recognitions: (Within your school or outside?) Pertinent Activities or Jobs: (Such as tutor, TA, SPS officer etc...) Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Special Bonus Points: (Such as connections, grad classes, famous recommenders, female or minority status etc...) Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Applying to Where: School - Department - Research Interest School - Department - Research Interest School - Department - Research Interest

______________________________________________ Undergrad Institution: (School or type of school, such as big state, lib arts, ivy, technical, foreign (what country?)... Overall Reputation in Physics?) Major(s): Minor(s): GPA in Major: Overall GPA: Position in Class: (No numbers needed, but are you top? near top? average? struggling?) Type of Student: (Domestic/International, male/female, minority?) GRE Scores (revised/old version): Q: V: W: P: TOEFL Total: (if applicable, otherwise delete this) Research Experience: (At your school or elsewhere? What field? How much time? Any publications (Mth author out of N?) or conference talks etc...) Awards/Honors/Recognitions: (Within your school or outside?) Pertinent Activities or Jobs: (Such as tutor, TA, SPS officer etc...) Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Special Bonus Points: (Such as connections, grad classes, famous recommenders, female or minority status etc...) Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Applying to Where: School - Department - Research Interest School - Department - Research Interest School - Department - Research Interest

______________________________________________ Undergrad Institution: (School or type of school, such as big state, lib arts, ivy, technical, foreign (what country?)... Overall Reputation in Biology?) Major(s): Minor(s): GPA in Major: Overall GPA: Position in Class: (No numbers needed, but are you top? near top? average? struggling?) Type of Student: (Domestic/International, male/female, minority?) GRE Scores (revised/old version): Q: V: W: B: TOEFL Total: (if applicable, otherwise delete this) Research Experience: (At your school or elsewhere? What field? How much time? Any publications (Mth author out of N?) or conference talks etc...) Awards/Honors/Recognitions: (Within your school or outside?) Pertinent Activities or Jobs: (Such as tutor, TA, SPS officer etc...) Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Special Bonus Points: (Such as connections, grad classes, famous recommenders, female or minority status etc...) Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Applying to Where: School - Department - Research Interest School - Department - Research Interest School - Department - Research Interest

______________________________________________ Undergrad Institution: (School or type of school, such as big state, lib arts, ivy, technical, foreign (what country?)... Overall Reputation in Physics?) Major(s): Minor(s): GPA in Major: Overall GPA: Position in Class: (No numbers needed, but are you top? near top? average? struggling?) Type of Student: (Domestic/International, male/female, minority?) GRE Scores (revised/old version): Q: V: W: P: TOEFL Total: (if applicable, otherwise delete this) Research Experience: (At your school or elsewhere? What field? How much time? Any publications (Mth author out of N?) or conference talks etc...) Awards/Honors/Recognitions: (Within your school or outside?) Pertinent Activities or Jobs: (Such as tutor, TA, SPS officer etc...) Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Special Bonus Points: (Such as connections, grad classes, famous recommenders, female or minority status etc...) Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Applying to Where: School - Department - Research Interest School - Department - Research Interest School - Department - Research Interest

Undergrad Institution: University of Washington (top-5 in atmospheric science, where I'll be getting most of my LORs from) Major(s): Astronomy, Physics, Math Minor(s): Applied Math GPA in Major: 3.77 Astronomy, mid-3's in Physics (but that is still pending til the end of the quarter) Overall GPA: 3.58 for last two years (overall is in 3.0-3.5 range, but still pending) Type of Student: Domestic Parrot GRE Scores: Biology: 810 (89th percentile), completely self-studied without taking any courses asides from a grad-lvl neurophysiology course Cellular & Molecular Biology: 82nd percentile Organismal Biology: 89th percentile Ecology/Evolution/Population Biology: 91st percentile GRE Physics: Pending General GRE: Pending Research Experience: Several years. Two publications (although in papers with numerous coauthors where my role wasn't that significant). Latest research is exoplanetary atmosphere research Awards/Honors/Recognitions: - National AP Scholar (8 self-studied APs) - Early Entrance @ University of Washington Pertinent Activities or Jobs: - Attended a grad-student summer program (CASS 2011 - http://www.ifa.hawai...UHNAI/CASS2011/ ) as an undergrad last summer - Quora Reviewer (have really built up the science sections on Quora up over the last few months), and am a top answerer on Astronomy, Biology, Neuroscience, Planetary Science, Atmospheric Science, Animal Behavior, Scientific Research, and Academia - Panelist on Reddit AskScience, supporting member on Physics Forums, and also active on Astronomy Stack Exchange (and several others). In other words, I'm one of the most prominent users on all the astrophysics-related communities on the Internet Special Bonus Points: - Grad-lvl courses in Neurophysiology, Planetary Atmospheres, Objective Analysis (aka Digital Signal Processing), High-Performance Scientific Computing, Numerical Linear Algebra, Causal Modelling (in statistics), Chinese Geography, and Ice/Climate (atmospheric science) - all with 3.4 GPA or above - I think I really helped my case by contacting professors (more so than most others), given that some of them invited me to call them, and that our research interests were extremely similar. Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: - My overall GPA got nuked by my idiocy when I was 16, but I'm still glad I did early entrance. - There are also numerous other factors, but probably best not to mention them now) Applying to Where: (this is probably a preliminary list that needs to be expanded) Mostly programs with active professors who do 3D modelling of exoplanetary atmospheres. Strong definites: Berkeley EPS - Caltech GPS - Caltech Environmental - Columbia Astro (or EES, depending on PGRE score) - MIT EAPS - UCSC Astro (or EPS, depending on PGRE score) - Arizona Planetary - Chicago Geophysical Sciences - UCLA ESS - Washington Atmos - Maybes: Harvard EPS - Princeton AOS - Cornell Atmos - Oregon State COAS - Penn State Astro (or Meteorology, depending on PGRE score) - May also consider George Mason CSI, Brown Planetary, Colorado, JHU Planetary, WashU, and a few others (especially environmental science departments). There's also a very small chance I could go for Caltech Astro, Chicago Astro, and numerous other Astro depts, and Oceanography is a possible other option.

(please sticky - thanks!) ______________________________________________ Undergrad Institution: (School or type of school, such as big state, lib arts, ivy, technical, foreign (what country?)... Overall Reputation in EAPS?) Major(s): Minor(s): GPA in Major: Overall GPA: Position in Class: (No numbers needed, but are you top? near top? average? struggling?) Type of Student: (Domestic/International, male/female, minority?) GRE Scores (revised/old version): Q: V: W: P: TOEFL Total: (if applicable, otherwise delete this) Research Experience: (At your school or elsewhere? What field? How much time? Any publications (Mth author out of N?) or conference talks etc...) Awards/Honors/Recognitions: (Within your school or outside?) Pertinent Activities or Jobs: (Such as tutor, TA, SPS officer etc...) Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Special Bonus Points: (Such as connections, grad classes, famous recommenders, female or minority status etc...) Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Applying to Where: School - Department - Research Interest School - Department - Research Interest School - Department - Research Interest ______________________________________________

Woah - small world, eh? Which profs are you closest with? Isn't it much easier to get in academia for Earth Science than it is almost everywhere else?

Oh cool - what session will you go to? Are you presenting? I'm mostly going to the exoplanetary atmospheres one.

Wow - why isn't your adviser keen on AGU?

Probably not - given my extremely unusual background, the advice is to apply to more. I don't even have any safeties, and I may be in the peculiar situation where I have a higher chance at Chicago/MIT/Caltech than at "lower-ranked" schools due to connections. Ah I see - international. Berkeley isn't there since there isn't anyone specifically in 3D exoplanetary atmosphere modelling there. But also since its deadlines are early and I'll probably miss them.

I know that atmospheric science departments generally do (so most atmospheric scientists have to at least be somewhat good in math+physics) But what about earth science in general? Here, you have such a wide range of backgrounds that not everyone might be expected to pass the same set of courses. Is this right? And could it affect admissions? A lot of physics/astro students are weeded out because even if they have fine research, there is still a big question around their ability to pass the core physics/astro courses. In this case, admissions may be more biased towards whether or not you share the same research interests as a professor or not (at least compared to physics/astro programs)

Yeah I am. Dec. 31st: harvard EPS, princeton AOS Jan 1: Caltech Planetary, Caltech Environmental, Caltech Biology/CNS (huge reach here) Jan 3: Columbia Astro (may switch to EES depending on PGRE score) Jan 5: MIT EAPS, UCSC (astro or earth science – still pending) Jan 8: Arizona Planetary Jan 9: Chicago Geophysical Sciences Jan 15: Boston U, Colorado, UCLA ESS, Washington Atmos Jan 20: Penn State Astro Feb 1: Cornell Atmos

I'm a highly unusual applicant - most of what I learn is actually self-studied, so that's how I was able to get that score without taking any biology courses at all. I've done a lot of research and may get some extremely strong LORs - however - I'm also highly unusual (no one has ever seen an applicant like myself) and my GPA isn't very hot (although it has been okay for the last 2 years). My main strength is my sheer interdisciplinarity (which some biology programs might value). I'm also one of the most active users on Quora, and have really built up its science section (especially the biology+neuroscience+astronomy) sections over the last few months. So are there any ecology/biology grad programs that might be open to someone of my background? I believe that I will only be able to make application deadlines that start in late December.

My main problem is that I don't think I'll be able to make admissions deadlines until late December. I believe that I will have some extremely strong LORs from some notable professors. My main problem is my GPA (and my ADD), but it has been okay for the last 2 years. Also, I have an extremely unusual profile (no one has ever seen an applicant like myself ever before - which could result in some pretty interesting decisions). My main strength is my sheer interdisciplinarity (which some biology programs might value) - I've taken graduate level courses in at least 5 different departments, and am a triple major in astro+physics+math. I'm definitely applying to Caltech's program anyways, but I'm wondering if there are any other options for those with a computational bent. == Anyways, here are my stats: Undergrad Institution: University of Washington (top-5 in atmospheric science, where I'll be getting most of my LORs from) Major(s): Astronomy, Physics, Math Minor(s): Applied Math GPA in Major: 3.77 Astronomy, mid-3's in Physics, Math is unmentionable Overall GPA: 3.58 for last two years (as for overall - suffices to say that it's between 3.1 and 3.5) Type of Student: Domestic Asian Male. GRE Scores: Biology: 810 (89th percentile), completely self-studied without taking any courses asides from a grad-lvl neurophysiology course (still waiting on others) Research Experience: Several years. Two publications (although in papers with numerous coauthors where my role wasn't that significant). Latest research is exoplanetary atmosphere research Awards/Honors/Recognitions: - National AP Scholar (8 self-studied APs) - Early Entrance @ University of Washington Pertinent Activities or Jobs: - Attended a grad-student program (CASS 2011 - http://www.ifa.hawai...UHNAI/CASS2011/) as an undergrad last summer - Quora Reviewer (have really built up the science sections on Quora up over the last few months), and am a top answerer on Astronomy, Biology, Neuroscience, Scientific Research, and Academia - Panelist on Reddit AskScience, Supporting member on Physics Forums, and also active on Astronomy Stack Exchange (and several others). Special Bonus Points: - Professors at Chicago and MIT (both famous in their fields) seem to be quite interested in me (I've already been in personal contact with them), and my research is already very similar to that of 2 Chicago profs. - LORs might be interesting. One of my profs said that I will probably be "great" someday (although I'm not sure how common that message is) - Grad-lvl courses in Neurophysiology, Planetary Atmospheres, Objective Analysis (aka Digital Signal Processing), High-Performance Scientific Computing, Numerical Linear Algebra, Causal Modelling (in statistics), Chinese Geography, and Ice/Climate (atmospheric science) - all with 3.4 GPA or above Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: - Probably the most unusual applicant anyone has ever seen in a very long time, if not their lifetime (I really don't want to brag, but the truth has to come out) - GPA *really* tanked down by 3 0.0's I got when I was a retarded teenager and went for grad-lvl applied math courses - I have fairly severe ADD that I only addressed with meds 2 years ago. - I also have a very high profile on the Internet (some people find it, but many people don't find it since they forget to google my middle initial), especially on Quora Applying to Where: (this is probably a preliminary list that needs to be expanded) Dec. 31st: harvard EPS, princeton AOS Jan 1: Caltech Planetary, Caltech Environmental, Caltech Biology/CNS (huge reach here) Jan 3: Columbia Astro (may switch to EES depending on PGRE score) Jan 5: MIT EAPS, UCSC (astro or earth science - still pending) Jan 8: Arizona Planetary Jan 9: Chicago Geophysical Sciences Jan 14: Arizona Astro (probably wont apply) Jan 15: Boston U, Colorado, UCLA ESS, Washington Atmos Jan 20: Penn State Astro Feb 1: Cornell Atmos

I'll be there. I won't be presenting - I'm there more to meet with prospective advisers.

Wow - where did you get that list of biggies from? I do have the feeling that Geoscience admissions does seem a lot more "random" than admissions at most other places. Can you really compare a 3.4 in Physics with a 3.7 in Earth Science? Or a 3.4 in Physics with a 3.7 in Biology? One thing: I just got a 810 on the Biology GRE as an astrophysics major. Could that help as well? I also took the Physics GRE, but I don't think I'll do as well. This is my list so far: Dec. 31st: harvard, princeton Jan 1: Caltech Planetary, Caltech Environmental, Caltech Biology/CNS (huge reach here) Jan 3: Columbia Astro (may switch to EES depending on PGRE score) Jan 5: MIT EAPS, UCSC Jan 8: Arizona Planetary Jan 9: Chicago Geophysical Sciences Jan 14: Arizona Astro (probably wont apply) Jan 15: Boston U, Colorado, UCLA ESS, Washington Atmos Jan 20: Penn State Astro Feb 1: Cornell Atmos

Ah okay - thanks for all the advice!