ktel

Start asking professors if they could write a letter with short notice, explaining your situation. He's probably going to be very busy and I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't have the time or energy to write your letters.

This is exactly what I do. I take a template and just dive in. If I want to do something and don't know how, a quick Google search always does the trick. I may not have a thorough knowledge, but I can do what I need.

You should be able to send a transcript which has your studies to date. It doesn't need to have your final semester, although they will request that before you can start

Why are you surprised they're on vacation during Christmas?

I think it's fairly common to not get funding after your 5th year, unfortunately. I know my university has specific emergency funding earmarked for students past the funding period who are just finishing up and need help. See if that is available to you

Every university has their own policy towards how intellectual property is treated. Like BassAZ said, you can speak to your graduate office regarding this. Some schools ensure that all IP is only yours, but most don't. If the IP becomes profitable, the money is often split, for example my undergrad policy was 1/3 to you, 1/3 to your advisor, 1/3 to the school.

I know a handful of physics grads in my engineering grad program. I don't think physics to EE/CS is too far of a stretch at all, especially if you can get some research experience in right now.

While I think life as a professional student certainly would be nice, I know that it would probably serve my future well to take some time to work in industry after my Master's. School will always be there, and I think having some "real world" experience could be quite helpful for any future research I may want to do if I do a PhD. Especially in engineering, where research is often tied quite closely to industry. If you start working and decide you don't want to do a PhD, perhaps you weren't really that passionate in the first place. And perhaps a job could give you the same satisfaction that a PhD would.

If you have an advisor already, they are there to help you find a thesis topic. Talk to them about it.

Sounds like tuition is covered. That's what I would understand "plus tuition" to mean. I found a lot of my funding offers a bit confusing to understand so I usually just e-mailed to confirm

Most of the letters I've had the opportunity to read were amazing, but there was the odd one that wasn't quite what I expected. It's best to just not think about it and leave things that our out of your control alone.

Somehow I would think that would me more relevant to an education program than say, engineering.

I moved across the country for my program, and I honestly think I would be in your shoes if it wasn't for my boyfriend and his family living here too. I've experienced depression, anxiety, doubts about the fit of my program, etc. But a big part of me is up for the challenge still, so that's making me want to stick it out. I think it would be worthwhile to stick it out one more semester. I JUST started to get the hang of everything (coursework, research, getting help) so now I anticipate things being at least easier.

^ And we've seen many times on this forum how well e-mail reminders work

This is just a bit ridiculous. They're busy but they're not THAT busy that they can't speak to a student. Profs have offices and office hours for a reason.

If I sent a letter to one of my old profs they would think I was crazy and ask why I didn't e-mail them.

Typically that would apply to all students. The only exception would be if you are already admitted on some kind of probation, which happens rarely, and you would know if you were.

Not that I necessarily agree with this whole thing, but playing devil's advocate here, why does your job have to be the only thing that fulfills you? Can you not love books and learning in your spare time? Loving something shouldn't be the only reason why you do something. I love playing rugby but I'm not about to give up school and a viable career when there's almost zero way I could make a living playing.

I think he probably wants more of a resume, so more point form and less paragraph.

Rhetorical question? She's obviously bitter about a past experience

It would definitely be acceptable for you to e-mail or phone given the circumstances. Most of the times when we suggest people go in person, it's because it's very easy for them to do so, but for some strange reason (laziness? anxiety?) they still insist on sending an e-mail. Even when the person doesn't respond.

Typically in most programs I know of you also get placed on probation if you are below a 3.0. But if your policy is what your advisor says it is, then what most programs do isn't going to matter much. Most universities have these sort of policies in writing, you should be able to find a document that says what the deal is.

I went to a pre-acceptance weekend, and while there were interviews, it was much more like a recruiting process. They only invited 10 applicants and they made it pretty obvious that they wanted us a little bit more than we had to show we wanted them. You will be able to tell almost immediately.

My aunt was a Big Sister. She's a very nice person but not a model citizen, definitely not perfect. Just apply and start mentoring. It's easy as that (after the background check)

Just be careful how you do this. Professors talk. Don't want to be accidentally badmouthing a prof (especially if he did just have a death in the family)