coonskee

They are made the second you stop thinking about them, at the moment you least expect them. *sagacious nod*

For me, it was handwritten notes for the POIs with whom I interviewed and the grad coordinator, who was of immense help to me and super nice to boot. For professors whom I met over the course of the weekend who had nothing to do with my research interests but were great to talk to (two of them), I sent them a quick thank you email. One of these actually ended up with the prof sending me a paper of his that we briefly discussed - it was completely unexpected, totally fascinating, and got me really pumped up for the school!

I agree with what others have said. See if you can scrounge up credit; ask the department for help; see if one of your friends or family will be able to lend you a hand. If one friend can lend you money for a hotel room, and a relative can lend you a car and a fully tank of gas (+money for a refill if they're kind enough), even if the department can't help you, you'll be set. I find it hard to believe that a department won't have mechanisms in place for invited students in situations like your own, though.

I think 'evaluating' is neutral - to me, the email's just saying that they need your areas of interest in order to properly continue judging your application. Just my opinion though!

The school did. You can ask the graduate secretary / program coordinator for details most likely!

I'm feeling super-anxious. I had a really great conversation with one of the PIs at the interview weekend I went to, and he's been keeping me updated on my application status and saying really positive things about how it's going, etc. My mum's seen most of the emails he's sent me and keeps saying "I'll be so surprised if you don't get in" etc etc. And I know I should just sit back and relax and wait for the results -- there's nothing I can do now, after all -- but the good feedback is only making me more stressed because it *is* getting my hopes up (even though I know it shouldn't because there's still a [probably pretty big] chance I won't get accepted, and the rejection will hurt so much more then). This process is making me beyond crazy. >.<

For the school I interviewed with, about 20% of applicants got interviews, and we were told that about 50% of the people being interviewed would be offered spots. We were told this by the program director during the weekend, so perhaps you'll be given similar statistics!

I already have a tattoo inspired by The Iliad (Homer) on my left wrist - "kleos" on the top and "nostos" on the bottom. If I get in, I want to get a nerdy science tattoo, but I'm not sure what yet!

It IS Monday! Was it the school?!

I have a tattoo on my wrist as well. It circles the wrist, though, so most people never even notice it - they assume it's a bracelet - but I wore a watch to my interviews just in case. Only one person noticed the tatt over the course of the weekend, and she was a fellow applicant Plus, you're not in finance, you're going to grad school... I don't think tatts are as big a deal (especially if they're nerdy ones!). The only reason I wore the watch was, basically, just in case I got a crazy tradtional interviewer... I figured that the rest of me was dressed up and prepared enough, though, that a bit of ink wouldn't matter. *shrug*

When I went on my interview, I carried around a "professional" folder - big enough to hold a pad of letter-size paper, copies of my resumes, and notes I had taken about the faculty with whom I was speaking + questions I wanted to ask them. I would definitely suggest either the pocket thing that SamAli mentioned or what I did - it really was helpful, and it helped me remember details of our conversations that might have otherwise slipped my mind (what with four back-to-back interviews) that I mentioned in the thank-you notes I later sent.

I think that you should invest in a suit or at least slacks etc, to be honest. You can totally put an "edgy" spin on the business casual, but I think it's important to look sharp/formal/professional first, and yourself second in these scenarios. If you look too 'different' (if you will), people might not think you care as much, if that makes sense?

I've been told to answer this question with a positive spin by talking about how you're working towards fixing them. Eg for me, one of my weaknesses is that I sometimes find my fear of messing up to be paralyzing. However, I've worked hard to overcome that by purposefully volunteeri for tasks at my lab that are really easy to screw up -- if I do mess up, i'll learn to deal with failure better; if I don't, then I'll prove to myself that I can do things! Etc etc

Keeping busy with lab and Skyrim... Or at least trying to

fingers crossed for you!!

I think you need to be prepared to answer why you did. Don't rant for ages (you'll sound confused). Come up with a short paragraph about why you did so, and be prepared to elaborate on parts of it just in case. I also applied to just one school this season. I wasn't ever asked which other schools I've applied to, but it did come up in conversation otherwise, and I never spoke for longer than two minutes on the topic.

One of the ones I wasn't expecting to be asked was "what do you do for fun?" I know it seems like it's not an important question - but, when I answered that I knit, read, play video games, and play scrabble - well, it turned out that the PI I was talking to plays scrabble too! We ended up having a short discussion about our favourite words to play. It was a nice personal touch to the interview.

Eeeeexactly!

How are you guys even checking the status?

Ehhh depends how late. If you're calling in March, yeah, probably (even February is probably too late)... but I think January would be fine?

Because once the application is in, everything is out of our hands (except the interview)... having no control --> negativity

I only applied to one school and i hear back from it in a week and a half... and yet, I keep doing EXACTLY what this comic is describing. And refreshing GradCafe incessantly. Sigh.

Forgot to add one thing! I am spending an entire day in bed playing video games. Preferably two if I have time.

Mud bath Takethiswaltz, are you a Leonard Cohen fan?

When I got an invite to the program I had been invited to, I hadn't been checking the results, and just assumed that I was invited when everyone else was (especially from what the graduate secretary said). But, when I went to check on results from years past from that program, I saw someone this application season had posted they got an interview invite a few days before I did! Don't despair yet.