Usmivka

So my read on this is that the school hires lecturers as opposed to active researchers for some of its teaching. I think it is totally OK to contact someone you have never had a class with (and perhaps never will) about research possibilities, in whatever field. At least some of those you contact will give you a shot given your CV. But to be brutally honest, I don't see how you will get into a grad program in the sciences without doing some research. Two years of research is good, one is perhaps enough, but you really have to get started now to give yourself a good shot. It is nerve-wracking to put yourself out there like that, but you will relax and learn how to sell yourself better as you try. If you truly can't work with anyone at your school, in any science field, then you do need to do as your adviser suggested--with his/her promise to follow up and recommend you strongly for research to whoever seems open to hosting you. Switching programs won't obviate the problem, so might as well start looking for anything in either/any/all field(s).

I'd strongly encourage you to read this about the "kisses of death in graduate school applications." It is geared towards Philosophy, but I think much of it can apply to many disciplines. I'd be very careful to avoid the faux pas' outlined in the paper. But you also seem to have a clear handle on where you want this to go that may skirt these issues and ultimately make for a more compelling statement of purpose. I don't have much more to add that wasn't well covered in the thread, but hopefully others can speak more to your specific circumstances.

Everyone has given some good advice, and the poster gets to see a spread of views, which is great. I think many posters on the Grad Cafe are doing their best to be helpful within their own framework of understanding, and I really respect that. I lean in the general direction of TheFez's advice. You know the job is coming up, so keep on top of it and have everything ready to go. You have people in the department who know you and can advocate for you aboveboard (I mean that they should disclose that they know you--nepotism is bad, but I think a committee would be interested in personal opinions of you from people they know). My particular program (in an unrelated field) puts a lot of stock in first hand experience of potential hires, e.g. how they interacted with the faculty during an invited seminar and what current faculty think of them from previously working together. Although, my program seems to hire an abnormally large number of its own graduates (they all know each other...), so this may not be a good indication of how things could or should work elsewhere.

I've not heard of anything like this before. You were supposed to commit to a school in April. The corollary of that is that they should have had their **** together long before that so you could make a choice (assuming you, like most other applicants had applied to multiple universities, no reason for them to assume differently). Have you called the admission department? I would call and tell them that weeks is unacceptable, you have a family and needed to gear up for a move a month ago. If they want you as student, they will fast track it. If they don't, well, can you honestly say you want to work with people as unprofessional as this? Other opinions out there guys? EDIT: I'm going to partially backtrack--I shouldn't confuse administrators with the faculty, maybe they are lovely. I just assume the faculty committee is who decides on admits, but that could be a poor assumption, and the whole kerfuffle may be outside their control.

It sounds like you are doing fine there. The relationships with your profs are important, and their LORs will be what gets you into a school, not what courses you couldn't take. In your statement of purpose you can mention that you took every chem course offered, but don't demean your school--that is one of the kisses of death in applications (see the thread of the same name). Presumably if you are such a strong student you can pick up whatever you are missing class-wise when you get to your next stage of academia, so it shouldn't be a big deal. Research should be happening in the lab of one of those profs, not in classes or fixed length summer programs. Find out what they are doing, if they need a lab rat, and ask to work on a project or in a field of interest. This is the research experience that will get you into grad school, and is what your competitors for admission are doing. Also, get paid for your time in the lab--just like grad school, if you aren't being paid, you shouldn't be doing it (I know others will disagree with me on this point specifically as relates to undergrad research, but it is my opinion that this is the equivalent of an unpaid internship in the business world--either you aren't appreciated or are taking a job from someone who can't afford to work for peanuts like you). Also, I don't see how you can make any sort of judgement about what you might want to do for grad school, or even whether you want to go, without doing research. Grad school in the natural/physical sciences is all about research. You don't have to do the same research, but if you can't stand real, sustained benchwork (or fieldwork depending on what you try out) you need to know that now.

I know a number of grad students who have older children (no younger than 3-4 when the parent(s) went back to school. They all seem to be surviving, but in no case are both parents working/studying full time for the whoe degree (but in one case both were students simultaneously for a year). The only two instances I know of where folks were accepted with kids as young as yours, the parent dropped out of school (in one case the dad, in the other the mom). But this is all anecdote, and I don't know you, your time-management, or how little or much time your kid needs, so it could be doable. Best of luck!

Which USC? There are multiple schools with that acronymn. University of Southern California has awesome alumni ties and business networks, likely worth the cost.

I agree with all of the above, but just to play devil's advocate--these are all instances where people rocked at their no-name school and got great recs. So yes, it happens, but that doesn't mean some programs won't weight brand-name when comparing two otherwise equally qualified applicants. My program at MIT (wrong field, may be nothing in common) has a really, really strong bent towards accepting undergrads from Ivy's or brand name schools. I think only 3/11 in my sub-department did not come from an Ivy or similarly branded school (and 4/11 came from the same Ivy school), and the stats are even worse for the whole department, on the order of 6-8% non brand-name. Expand that out to several years of admits and I think the stats get even bleaker, like 4-5% from state schools. My classmates are all great students, but I know equal caliber students who went to state schools and did not get into this program (but different years, so not directly comparable). I think the biggest factor though, that outweighs everything else, is to come in with funding. Even folks who were not admitted originally are sometimes retroactively admitted if they get an NSF fellowship or something similar. In your field, maybe NEH? Just being able to say you've applied during the application puts you above someone otherwise equal who did not put in the effort to apply, because at least you have a shot at bringing in money, and will likely have an even better chance next year if you don't get it this year.

Probably. To get funding for a Master's only, you will need to be in the 90-100 percentile in quant., and at least 50% in AW. I'm not sure they will care about verbal, especially since you will have taken the TOEFL anyway. If you aren't concerned about funding, I'm sure there are programs out there that would accept that score if you have a very strong research background.

The NSF GRFP does not accept GRE scores. You could send them, and they would promptly recycle the paper.

I'd buy the big book of old tests from ETS, then sit down with a timer if you want practice in a timed setting. There are also two free timed tests, with adaptive response, on ETS's website. You may need to register for the test to get access to them and other materials (like a complete vocab list of everything that can show up on the test), so register plenty early. For study guides, I liked Barron's book, I thought it did a very nice job covering both material and time-saving techniques. I think test prep courses won't give you any more than this, but if you have lots of money to spend they may guilt you into studying at certain times (if you spend that much money, you might as well go to the classes...). I think studying for 4 hours a day or so for a month will give you plenty of prep. No need to quit your job unless you are working 12 hour days. You still have months, so you can spread out the study more if needed. Don't worry about vocab you will never remember, concentrate on what you think you can learn and especially on things you thought you knew but actually have wrong--that is important for life, not just a test. If English is not your first language, you may be able to take a TOEFL and rock it, which would count more for you than the vocab section. There are several threads here on the forum which go into great detail about the personal statement. Look around. Many people have asked exactly the same questions, and there are hundreds of good answers.

I won't really believe this until I see it, but I love it anyway.

Everyone has assumed the prof was being a jerk, but maybe this is just how he communicates? If he is otherwise super supportive as described, maybe he was engaging in hyperbole to make a point, or to try to push you towards higher achievement in the time you have left? Clearly this was poor approach for him to take, and rather insensitive. But he could still be totally behind you, and wants you to succeed. I had a research adviser somewhat like this, he'd always ask for more, say I needed to do better at x, y or z. That made the compliments once a year or so so much sweeter. He not only wrote me stellar letters of recommendation, but actually wrote another prof he knew in a top tier program and convinced them to try and recruit me prior to the application process. Maybe this guy really is an ass, but maybe, just maybe, he just didn't communicate clearly.

Calgary Stampede! Yee haw! I have nothing further to add.

A related point: Some 4-yr state universities (like the one I went to, and I'm nearly certain the UC and Cal State systems work the same way) will kick you out if you have too many credits with too little progress towards your degree. The students this policy usually effects most? Community college transfers. Folks come in with a high credit count but too few major courses. By the time they've hit most of their major courses, they are sitting around 175-190 credits (at the UW), with the credits required for one degree ~180, and they get the boot at ~200 if they have more than a class or two left to do. If they fail a class when they are in this scenario, they don't get to retry, they are out. So if you fail or get too low a grade in a class with certain grade requirements for the major, or accidentally missed a distribution requirement or prereq, you can be up the creek without a paddle. I know several students who got kicked out of school this way, all CC transfers with lots of credits. The only way to up the credit count was to add a second degree, but the new threshold of 225 credits was often too little to cover both the new requirements and the existing deficiencies. Long story short, have a plan. Don't wing it and take whatever you feel like. Someone who starts in a 4 year school has that luxury for a time, but you do not. CC is an awesome opportunity and makes financial sense, but it can come with baggage when you transfer. The course you've laid out requires a lot of careful planning if you plan to stay at a West Coast public university.

I'm pretty sure a religious studies anywhere, math is a non-factor. That said, you might consider studying the math packet freely available on the ETS site for a month or so, then, retaking if the math scores really bother you that much.

Many schools have research as only pass/fail credit. However, if you do A quality work for research, it seems like you should get credit for it if the school allows. Your ability to do high quality research is, after all, the most important consideration for a graduate program. But what your research adviser has to say in a letter of reccomendation will count for much more anyway. I don't see that anyone is getting an unfair advantage in this sense. GPA is a fairly minor consideration for admission once you are past threshold grades. If someone really needs "easy A's" to prop up his/her grade beyond whatever this minimum cutoff is, grad school may not be the best choice.

You could try getting a May or June lease, then subletting your place for the summer. Or you could move into a room in a house someone else is leasing, then you'd never be responsible for the lease and the time you aren't there. But many leases forbid sublets, so you could find yourself evicted on short notice with few rights if you don't check with the landlord first. Also, if anyone is looking for an apartment in Boston this Fall: My noisey upstairs neighbors are not being permitted to renew their lease. Great news for me! To avoid getting similarly crummy neighbors in the future, I thought I'd advertise here. It is a two level 3 bedroom (one is a master suite, big enough for 2 people on its own) unit in Jamaica Plain, available this Sept 1 or earlier. It is super convenient to Longwood Medical, the VA, two T lines, and shuttles to Harvard and the BU Medical campus/Boston Medical Center. It is also convenient to the bike trail, and I bike to MIT in 25-30 minutes. PM me if you want to know more about the unit, landlord, whatever. I'd love to find good neighbors, and love the area, so it is worth my time to talk it up to you!

Answering in order: 1. There is sometimes a few days of slack--someone moves early, apartment is vacant, etc. The lease may say Sept 1, but you can often move in early if it is vacant. Also, not everything is Sept 1, just a lot of it. 2. Landlords with Sept 1 lease dates rarely clean--they require the tenants to do so when they leave. So in practice, this doesn't happen at all. Plan to clean your new apartment thouroughly, who knows what crud the last folks left. 3. There is chaos. Plan to have your stuff packed the night before, and coordinate with the people at either end of the move. You may be able to work out a deal where they help you load, you help them unload, or vice versa at the other end. Important! Reserve your moving truck at least 2 months in advance, or you will have to drive way outside the city to get one. Lots of folks cant get a truck, so they abandon much of their furniture on the curbside. In the student dense area of Allston, this phenomenon is known as "Allston Christmas." Anything on the curb is free for the taking, but may have bedbugs or other nasty surprises. This is why bedbug infestations in Boston spike in September.

This is rapidly going down the rabbit hole. I'm not aiming to be mean or insensitive, I'm just finding this sequence hard to treat credibly. Folks have given you very reasonable advice for the problem you presented in the opening post. Follow it or don't. What you are bringing up now is a new and more serious issue, which is whether you and your prof do not have effective professional boundaries. But based this whole series of posts, you seem to be reading a whole lot into this guy (paraphrasing, 'hurt/fearful expression' from opening post, "he is possessive of me" above). It is hard to tell whether there is a problem here, or if you are making something out of nothing. Your tendency towards hyperbole, tangents, and social awkwardness in these posts makes me suspect the latter. However, if your prof actually is treating you possessively and looking/speaking to you inappropriately, you need to take this up right away with your University ethics panel or department chair. If you have an ombudsman you could talk to him/her in confidence first to confirm that others perceive this situation the same way you do, and you aren't about to drag both of you into an unpleasant situation.

I'm afraid you didn't read my post: I wrote "very little like Miami." See above. And I agree with the above, no Davis if you are really that temperature sensitive. You should probably also cut out DC, Boston, New York, Philly, Pittsburgh, and Chicago too, as all of these frequently exceed your ideal temperature for much of the year. I'm not sure how you survived your childhood in NYC. Even Madison, Minneapolis, and Seattle exceed 80-90 for parts of the summer. Have you considered someplace farther North, say Saskatoon or Nome? Because short of the Arctic Circle, you are more or less out of luck.

I want to point out that program rankings, particularly in CS, are considered so unreliable as to be ignored. This has come up a number of times in the forums. I'm linking one that I know about because I replied in detail to it So for all you or I know, the program you got into is the best possible one in your field for your interests. It sounds like it doesn't fit with your interests, but that is really unclear to me since you didn't specify your research interests or what you might do at UCSD. If you aren't excited about the place don't go. And of course, if it isn't fully funded (tuition AND living stipend) don't go.

Before application. If you have a prof who wants you as a student, they can advocate for you to the admissions committee. In the two schools I have experience with, The admissions committee first applied any basic cutoffs for gre/grades, then asked the profs if there was anyone in the applicant pool they were particularly interested in and could support. Everything else about the application was lower priority. You could certainly apply without having professor(s) lined up, but a prof has to be interested in you and able to support you to some extent to make it through the admissions process. If you get there and then shop around, you may find that the only person who was interested in you is doing work you don't care about. The caveat here is that this applies specifically to two oceanography schools, and there are certainly departments and programs with different models.

I'd look through the older threads, this has been hashed through many times on the Grad Cafe. is one of the more recent iterations.

Agreed, San Diego is very little like Miami weather wise, it is a very pleasant place to live. But it is more car-centric than many of the other cities you mentioned. Berkeley is in the SanFran metro area, also very pleasant, but super expensive. Boulder certainly feels small if that is where you stay, but is anything but if you plan on some outdoor recreation. Pittsburgh is smaller than many of the cities you mentioned above, and I've not heard anything good about public transit there. Also, it sounds like you are not fixed in anywhere yet, so it may make more sense to figure out which programs are a good fit (not just "good") before worrying about transit. You can use it as a tiebreaker after you get into programs, but deciding about it now seems premature.