erudite crudite

i love love love papers! i think it's mac only, but their iphone app is awesome. http://mekentosj.com/papers/

For physical, I know George Washington and CUNY were handing out lush packages (>$25K, including tuition, health insurance, etc.) I'm going to UT to work with a badass in paleoecology, and they're giving me $13k (plus tuition, health, and a $5k research award) for 5 years as a TAship. UT Austin and ASU were throwing money at me. But the fact that all a in physical are funded (and therefore competition between students isn't unhealthily crazy), along with the guarantee of that same funding for 5 years (as opposed to the gamble of having to pay out of state tuition in subsequent years if I couldn't land a TAship) ultimately helped me decide.

hey tistre, i'm keeping my fingers crossed for you! if you end up going to UT we should get a cup of coffee or something!

After sending in my letters to decline programs, and accepting at UT, I got a call last night from my advisor at my number 2 program. He wanted to let me know that they found even more funding for me, and that although he didn't want to "send me spinning into a tizzy" he wanted to let me know that the offer will stand until the end of the month (what good does that do me?!?). So what did I do? I went spinning into a tizzy. It was a really hard decision to turn them down, and I found myself second guessing everything that I had signed up for. I called two of my LOR writers and they talked me down from the ledge, but it's still just as painful to decline them a second time. I feel like either program would be a good fit, but the departmental climate and security of the funding they're offering are very different. I'm sticking with UT, but I suppose it's flattering that they would go out of their way in the final moments to try and score another point. I knew something like this would happen, as soon as I thought I could breathe easy and rest assured that everything was OVER.

officially accepted my offer yesterday!

Officially accepted the offer from University of Texas at Austin! Hook 'em horns! Hopefully this will free up a space (and my funding) for someone still waiting on ASU.

I know exactly how you feel. I keep telling myself that no matter where I end up it will be more about what I do while I'm there than where it is I'm doing it. Plus there's always room to collaborate with some of the faculty you've established contact with at other schools. That's one of the main reasons my advisors encouraged me to contact everyone I was applying to work with, getting your name out there early in the game.

I'm still deciding/waiting. I had all but accepted at my #2 school after an absolutely fabulous visit, when I learned that I was waitlisted at my #1. That kind of threw a wrench into the situation. The program coordinator assured me that I'd most likely hear yes or no before the 15th, but I'm unbelievably antsy. Plus, all this extra time to think has made ms re-evaluate my options. I was at the AAPAs this week in Chicago and was able to meet one of my prospective advisors at a top program that I had previously discounted due to their inability to compete with funding from school #2. I've already declined two offers with hopes that other on the waitlist could get spot, but this waiting is driving me nuts.

I know it might be a little soon, but does anyone know where they're going yet? April 15th is 17 days away!

99% sure I'll be there this fall! Where are you all looking at housing?

hey! i think we met! where did you accept?

Has anyone admitted to OSU heard anything about funding yet? Had any sort of contact with the department?

He said on Thursday that they'd be contacting "early next week"... Fingers crossed!

He said I was still in the running. I know the list before the most recent round of cuts had 12 people on it, and they're offering admission to 5 or 6.

I got a call from a Columbus, Ohio number last night at 7, but they didn't leave a message. I'll be damned if I know anyone from Ohio, it has to be the school! Do I call the mystery number back? Or do I just wait for them to call again? They *will* call again, right?