eco_env

list all 3? like you said, some of us are desperate to get decisions, so the important thing is that you decline now.

seems like a lot of the people I'm competing against have a Master's, so that makes me feel like I need a Master's to get into grad school (I haven't been very succesful so far), but I was concerned that I would have to pay for a MS. can anyone comment on getting funding for a MS? particularly in ecology?

no question about it. Davis is better in practically every way, if you look at anything measurable. (I'm referrring ot the NRC graduate school data).

I suspect that coming from a highly ranked but small liberal arts college is more of a problem- research opportunities are more limited (in terms of the diversity of choices available) and you can be fairly sure that no one has heard of your LoR writers. If you've worked with people who do respected, publishable research and they say good things about you, I think you are in a good situtation, but it might be good to show with your GRE scores that your high GPA means something.

what program? have you seen this: http://www.nap.edu/rdp/ ? the numbers are a little old and the data is limited, but it could be helpful.

for some reason many schools don't like to accept students from their own school.

It's a mystery to me too.

has anyone ever gotten a rejection and asked the adcomm or (former) potential advisor for advice on improving the application for future years? bad idea?

looks like one of the schools I applied to will rescind my acceptance because I can't find an advisor. are there any rules against that? or are schools allowed to resind acceptances whenever they want to?

I wrote a short thank you email after they wrote the letters, so i don't really feel like i have to write again if I have no news. right?

You could use a LoR service, so the writers can send 1 letter to 1 place. For ex: http://www.interfolio.com/product/dossier/index.cfm your undergrad school may have a cheaper service.

I looked up that stats out of curiousity. The top 5 programs in terms of placement of graduates in academia include Auburn University, UC Santa Barbara, and UConn. (also UVA and Brown)

The thank-you note I'll be writing to my LoR writers: "thanks for writing me a recommendation letter. Thanks to your recommendation, I have been able to accept a position researching retail economics under the supervision of the shift manager at __ (insert local grocery store name)" After investing so much in my plans for graduate school (this year and since high school), I can't bring myself to start looking for a job.

A certain grad school will accept me if i can find an advisor, but the main person I planned to work with rejected me. I wrote to some other people before and after my interview, but no response. Is it too late now to try to find another advisor? try bugging the others some more? I'm wondering if anyone else had any success looking for an advisor at this point, and if the silence from other POIs means rejection, or just that I need to call them or email them again.

you never know- it might snow. just wait until a few days before and see, but be prepared to bring boots or at least sensible shoes, a warm coat, etc.

what kind of questions should I expect in an ecology program interview? I'm getting the impression that I'll need to have a detailed research plan in place, is that right?

what kind of questions should I expect in an ecology program interview? I'm getting the impression that I'll need to have a detailed research plan in place, is that right?

The Ph.D. process : a student's guide to graduate school in the sciences by Dale F. Bloom, Jonathan D. Karp, and Nicholas Cohen. found it useful for applications to grad school.

I was wondering the same thing and then got an invite 9 days before the interview was supposed to happen.

a little late, but someone else might find it helpful: http://members.terracom.net/~dorothea/gradsch/success.html

I'm in ecology. I got invited to 1 interview so far. the interview at this school is happening after the admissions committee decided I'm "acceptable" but before I got an advisor, which is required for admission.