skinkididoo

hehe

Hopefully everyone has heard from most of your schools now! I just got admitted to Stanford. I enjoyed my visit there so much, I am almost definitely going to accept and not wait to hear from Berkeley. Good luck everyone!

wow, if that actually happens that would be great! being on the west coast, that would mean I could find out when I wake up. does anyone know what time of day emails were sent out last year?

I'm in "depression"... I'm also waiting to hear back from a late interview I went on to my 1st choice school and starting to worry that I could get bad news from both in the same week and that would be pretty tough. I'm trying to tell myself it's good I haven't heard because if he wanted to reject me there's no reason to wait, but I'm not completely convinced. And winning an NSF could turn the game around for me...

i think some people had seen this before elsewhere, but the fastlane login page now says this: maybe we'll get lucky on monday... here's to not worrying about it this weekend

well at least this means that the results are basically ready...

no go for me too not that i expected the government to care about studying the ancient earth, but it was worth a try. i think i have a better shot at the NSF anyways

One of my friends already was accepted to the geochem program at Berkeley (but she's not accepting), which makes me think none of us were selected in their first round... In other news, I'm flying to Stanford today...

hey, good luck mebosket! i guess i'm in the same boat of uncertainty since I'm not visiting until March 31st, but the prof told me it was best to visit then... hopefully Berkeley starts making some decisions soon, because I wouldn't be able to visit there until April...

I don't think you should give up... it said something in the email about visiting your potential department/adviser being more important, so it's possible you could still be invited to visit by a particular professor even after the "GRAD" weekend.

Hey everyone, Just got back from the Prospective Student Weekend at Austin - holy crap is the Jackson School of Geosciences a HUGE geology department. Also got an invite to Stanford's "GRAD" weekend (Graduate Recruiting and Diversity) on March 8-9, but I'm sticking with my later visit so I can meet the students who work with my potential advisor. Has anyone heard anything from Berkeley yet?

I've had this situation twice. The first time, the professor and I talked a lot about the program, his research, living in the town, etc. He also mentioned that he'd recommended me for a fellowship. It sounded like I was in already (but just not notified) and I got my acceptance email a couple days later. The second time, it was a shorter conversation, mostly to arrange a visit. He mentioned the possibility of "extending an offer" after we talk in person (too bad the visit is OVER A MONTH AWAY). Your situation sounds a lot like my first call - I'd hold on and see if you get something from the school in the next week.

I think I'm probably one of the younger people here - I turn 21 in a month.

The interview was pretty short - it seemed like he preferred to talk more in person or via email (no problem with me, I feel the same) and firmed up plans to visit in the end of March (so the current students will be back from the field). He mentioned that he would arrange a hotel for me once I book my flight, but no word yet on reimbursing the plane ticket (it seemed awkward to ask). And I guess we'll talk more about "extending an offer" when I visit. At least now I have a lot of time to read all the papers he's published on this topic in the last 4 years...

I had a somewhat similar situation: My academic adviser was writing one of my recs for me, for a fellowship, and the due date of the fellowship came around and went by without him submitting anything. He's really hard to contact (not often in his office, no one knows where else he would be). However, even in the thick of it I didn't send twice-a-day emails - either he's gonna check his inbox, or he's not. Luckily, the deadline was extended for a week and he still got it in on time (and if he hadn't, I would have just contacted the fellowship and let them know the situation). Turns out he was having trouble with the online submission system and getting frustrated. My other two profs didn't have any trouble, but he found the instructions confusing... (to be fair, the application format was pretty awful for my part of the app, too) It was a pretty stressful week... However, I'm confident that it was a good recommendation, so it was worth it. I agree with other posters that the hands-off attitude of the adviser should have been a red flag. All my recommenders were enthusiastic to be able to help me out. Also definitely worth it to get a 4th rec and explain your situation to admissions. You've got nothing to lose (they either will or won't read the 4th rec, you can't control whether or not they read anything from your adviser)

Holy crap, I'm having a phone interview with this prof at Stanford tomorrow. So nervous, but excited also!

I haven't heard back from this professor yet, so I have no idea yet about the Stanford visit. I'll update when I know. mebosket, I hear you about other disciplines being more on the ball. I have several friends in ChemE who've heard from most of their schools already.

I know at least two geosciences people from my school who have already been accepted to Berkeley, though, so it seems likely that outstanding candidates will be notified sooner than March 15. Neither of them are in quite the same discipline as me, though (I believe they are geobio and geochem).

I recently heard from a professor at Stanford (via email) that he was interested in working with me on a particular project and suggesting having some sort of informal phone interview and a visit to Stanford. I think this is probably a really good step, unless of course all professors select a number of students to interview when they only intend to admit one. We'll see. Good luck, everyone...

Before applying, I spent a long time researching my long list (12 or so) of potential schools and whittling it down to those with professors doing research that interests me and in a location I could handle for 5 years. That allowed me to spend a lot more time on my fellowship applications. I have a first choice, but I would be pretty happy to go to any of my 3 schools.

My boyfriend lives and works 2 hours away, but plans on moving with me wherever I go. My first choice school will be great for both of us because he can transfer within his company and we can actually live in the same place.

I'm a senior this year. How long ago was your friend here? I haven't visited anywhere yet. I'm going to Austin in 2 weeks.

I got some sort of mass email from the EPS department at Berkeley: "Finally, some information about the admissions process, for your information. During the next few weeks faculty will be reviewing files, and making decisions regarding their top candidates. We will make some preliminary decisions during February, and mail out offer letters. Those applicants will have until April 15 to notify us of their decisions. By April 15th we will know how many candidates have accepted our offers, and depending on the number, we may decide to extend additional offers. At that time we will also send out an email letting everyone else know that they are no longer being considered for admission." Also, I just heard back from someone at the department of Earth and Geological Sciences at Stanford that decisions will be sent out by March 20th (holy crap that's so far away), but that there is a possibility of being notified sooner. Congrats on the interview - at least its a first step. I was really relieved at first hearing from UT and arranging my visit, but now I'm even more anxious to hear from the other schools.

I'm sure our experiences are pretty different - my undergrad department is fantastic and I would be happy to keep working with my current research advisor, but my school is not at all supportive of undergrads continuing on for their PhD and for good reason. Our community can seem very bubble-like and I am very excited to go somewhere different, work with new people in a new environment, get different perspectives on everything. That said, I'm sure not all schools are like mine and going somewhere else for your masters may have helped you get plenty of breadth of experience. Good luck with you decision

I'm looking to do sedimentology/paleoclimate/geobiology research. So far I've gotten a really good offer and a lot of interest from UT Austin, but haven't heard anything from the other schools, except to expect to hear from Berkeley (if I'm accepted) in late February and not til late-ish March if its rejected or accepted as a backup choice. I'm super nervous about hearing from Stanford...