Langoustine

Wow everyone has really cool stories behind their name! Mine is just a small lobster. I call a good friend of mine Lobster and they have taken to calling me Langoustine bc I am short.

Only one of mine 5 apps has an Application Status so I can't really see anything :/

Person of Interest. When I first came here I was so confused by the POI, SOP, what have you. There should be a key.

I would def say this is probably to prepare for a phone interview. Though a very curt message.

HAHAHAHA I know right? Goddamn! There was a funny post on the Results page a couple days ago: MIT, Computer Science (F11), GRE 900Q/900V, 150 publications, I am 16 yrs old Yes I leave my gmail account open in a tab and check every 10 minutes or so. I am going crazy!! Obvs I am up and it is 1:44 am.

In the official interview weekends they usually have stuff (tours, lectures, presentations, arranged dinners, etc.) that you might not get if you were to go at another time on your own...Of course some schools have multiple weekends too. Ask your schools if this is the case, if so rescheduling should not deprive you of those events. I guess you could try and visit both if they are very very close. Take into consideration how much your travel time will be. So if this is the only weekend for both and you definitely cannot combine visits I say go for School #1.

Whoa scary! Good that both school are offering alternatives...maybe take the alternate weekend for School X? I would trust your undergrad prof. I too am very afraid of bad POIs; a friend of mine had one that basically checked out while she was doing her PhD...luckily she was co-advised and just joined the other lab full time. I agree with qbtacoma, your relationship with your POI is very important...

Awww congratulations!! I agree with newms def make first contact with your advisor. So exciting have fun!

I originally wrote a lot but I will cut it down to this: What professors, researchers, PhD students, and other folks with a PhD or MS have told me is that if you are not 100% behind your decision to go to grad school you probably shouldn't...You seem well aware of the lifestyle you are getting into...just think about what career track you want and if a PhD or MS or neither will work for you. And this really depends on your field here. Grad school is a big commitment (like you said, up 7 years!) and not something to enter in on a whim. Good luck!

I totally did this too! Like the Kennedy/Nixon debates on TV. I turned on my camera before to see how I would look and noticed my wall was blank and there was a nice Native american poster I had been meaning to put up anyway. Done. Then I picked a decent shirt, solid color. But then I noticed since I have black hair and my desk chair is really tall and black leather - my was face blending into the back of the chair...I realize I sound like a crazy person but anyways. I hung a light colored bed sheet on the chair and now I am clearly framed! These things may not mean much in the long run but doing it did calm my nerves!

More EEB people! Hi, is this site addicting or what?! So here is my piece: So far, for EEB people, I have had either phone or Skype interviews (pretty informal) with all my POI. No word yet on official visits though and I see many people are hearing back about this! One of my POI, whom I am Skyping with again next week, tells me he still needs to make sure the grad committee approves his 'application' if you will for a new grad student. SO I guess this part has to happen first before they can invite people to visit? It's so exciting to see everyone hearing back now though!! Congrats!

All I have had so far are phone and Skype interviews. If you contacted advisors prior to applying (which, for most Bio type programs I think is the norm) they will usually follow up with a phone call or something...As for concrete answers from any EEB programs I gather they come a little later than the Humanities-type offers I see on this site...I could be wrong though! I certainly hope not! I haven't heard a peep yet....

Hi! I just discovered Grad Cafe and I think I found a fix for grad school talk! I'm pretty sure my fam is way tired of hearing me gripe about it constantly! Anyways, glad I found this because I have no idea what to expect for grad interviews. So far it sounds like schools give these interview/visits before an official decision is made right? Is this true for people in biology/ecology programs? And when? I have a field job offer that might interfere with visits and I have until next week to tell them yes or no...