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axc

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Everything posted by axc

  1. Some person I don't know tried to friend me on facebook and two spams, one was about Viagra (can you believe it? in this day and age. Pfff) and other about a lonely single who's beutiful & inteligent, whatever that means, in my cities.
  2. Going to second that email but you might want to call instead, it tends to get results faster.
  3. I agree with LoR writer 1, just apply again. Grad schools seem to impulsively flinch at bad undergrad gpas, so I doubt an MS will be much help. Now for some more paranoid, bitter chat, I'm no expert but... Since undergrad is over for you keep trying to get a job and internship and raise your GRE (sorry) by a tiny bit and redo your SOP instead of getting tons more debt and wasted years for next to nothing. Also, don't trust your LoR writers they might be writing less than flattering letters despite what they say with smiling faces. To get that far you have to know how to lie well. Maybe yours are honest, one of mine wasn't.
  4. After interviews I'd guess it wouldn't take long for decisions to be made. I had an interview toward the begining of this month but I haven't heard anything. Has anyone else had experiences like this? Or not like this?
  5. That school is taking forever to get back to me and where supposed to weeks ago. I must be on the waitlist of the waitlist at best. I'm a natural born reject.

  6. I'd email again (since I'm planning to follow my own advice and email the department at my issue school next week).
  7. Epic story time: My GPA is not very good my GRE was just acceptable and I only have 9 months or so of research experience. One of my LOR was a mixed review and the other two were from the same lab. One was a big name in the field, one was a moderate name (mixed reviewer) and last was a new name. I’m also a double minority, if that helps or not. I went to a community college there were no internships and so on. When I transferred to a 4-yr, none of the professors I wanted to work with wished to take me in claiming that I didn't have enough experience. I was caught in this catch-22 until senior year when someone finally gave up and let me in. I knew I wanted a PhD going into college so that sucked and I graduated feeling pretty ticked off at the world. To make things even better, I had untreated bipolar throughout my college years which really acted up junior year partially led to me retaking some courses (and finally seeking treatment) at the dawn of senior year. I didn’t mention this to anyone anywhere since I doubt it’s something for their consideration. At my lone interview there were a lot of MS students and super qualified students (one student had a near perfect gpa, 3 household names in the field wrote LORs, nice undergrad institution, etc). No one spoke much and it was weird. I got asked a few times about my limited research experience which made me feel self-conscious but I tried my best to spin my experiences as profound and useful. One of the grad students went to my alma matter and understood my case, but I’m sure the rest, including faculty, thought I was a stupid slacker that barely realized grad school existed. Even the college seniors applying had years more research experience than I and that was disheartening.
  8. The economy is so bad and so on that grad school this year is competitive enough that (I'm 100% sure) UC Merced had a better showing of applicants than they've had in years.
  9. The receptionist at the U I interviewed at said results responses would be posted the week after the interview. Well, it's been a week and I haven't read a thing.

  10. More variety of people this time: Wow, have you seen how much stipend money school X gives? Man, some of us have to work for a living. I hope you don't get accepted there, it's too far away and the cat will miss you. I heard a student got murdered in the dorms there. That's school's stupid if they don't accept you. You're just right for them since they're ranked 109th in that program. School X that you got rejected was too good for you, they know you're not bright enough. You're going to be in school forever, avoiding responsibilities like a loser. (And what about that year off sitting around at home filing job applications and sleeping the rest of the tme? That's so much progress and being independent right?)
  11. Heard of a UCSD rejection early on (mid January) haven't heard anything from my non-UC school post interview.
  12. I get migranes, shakes and bad runs. Nothing better than running away from your interviewers to the bathroom and leave them wondering if they did something wrong. For my recent interview I practiced speaking an hour a day a week or two before in front of a mirror to help reduce the shaking. I still got migranes and the runs but at least I didn't shake while I talked. Anyway, I'm sure the interviewers understand we're nervous they probably don't understand foot in mouth syndrome though.
  13. Only been in your boat a year so I get the feeling of frustration, self-doubt and hopelessness... At least you've had skill building whereas I've been sitting around home dediting my resume until I feel sick looking at it for the past year. As with me keep trying, if you have medical try to keep yourself healthy and so on.
  14. I'd personally branch out since I have this feeling of wanderlust and I'm curious about life and academia in different places. Seems like the culture of a place influences its academics a tiny bit if you ask me. I had a PI that stressed for me to try different areas (reasons you listed, then again that PI wrote me a bad LoR) and I've had a PoI that stayed at my undergrad institution from BA to PhD and did some postdoc work there too that said he liked being around the same people for long since he developed stronger connections and felt that he was able to understand what he sought from research/academia better.
  15. Would suggest WSU. Having lived in San Bernardino/Riverisde area as I child I would highly suggest avoiding the so-called armpit of California.There's not much to do in UCR, it's rough (crime wise), lots of traffic and I'd assume the programs there aside from philosophy and education ones are small. When I looked at the school for undergrad a few years ago the campus looked a bit rough apperance-wise. Also, the summers run around 115 and the landscape its always this ugly brown color except for in spring when it floods. The sky is orange and sometimes it smells bad. However, from UCR you can drive pretty much anywhere in southern CA in a few hours. Don't forget to compare the funding between schools before making your final choice.
  16. Hopefully, school 2/2 accepts or at least waitlists first rather than flat out reject me. Being trapped at home for nearly a year is like prison. I'd like to have some hope.

    1. Canadianlinguist

      Canadianlinguist

      Oh my god I so know what you mean, I had a nightmare yesterday I was stuck at home next year, cuz I didn't get funding anywhere, and woke up in tears....and with a rejection from the school where I had garenteed funding.

  17. Oh, I hate that area, if you don't get accepted there its a blessing and you should be happy.
  18. The only thing that's happened to me aside from struggling to fund my trip is an interview invite in my spam folder. I heard a recent story about: a friend getting tipsy at a grad interview weekend and spilling lab politics/lab dirt from their old labs, another friend’s car breaking down in the desert around noon on the way to UCLA and someone’s grandparent went to the ER after/during interviews and they had to take leave early.
  19. I recently found out through a PoI that one of my LoR writers wrote a LoR that was 1/2 good and 1/2 bad. The good was positive traits, a few things about research etc. The bad was negative traits with a focus on maturity. Is this still a good letter or something to avoid asking for in future applications?
  20. Are there any formalities unspoken or otherwise you should do before/during/after an intervew? I've heard people saying you need to send thank yous to everyone involved in interview day(s) set up and stuff. Is there anything else I should do? Read papers? Ask questions about these papers during interview day? Help is appreciated.
  21. Not sure if its common practice but an friend applying to a different program at UCR (biosciences) has heard similar word.
  22. I contacted the school and they said something along the lines of 'we're having budget cuts, too bad' in a polite way. I'll look into the credit card thing. I'm too chicken to try couch surfing (what if they steal my wallet while I sleep like in the dorms? Ugh). Things will work out; I still have a few weeks.
  23. Exercise Play video games (especially time destructive favorites) Try to learn a new language Read literature in your field/review old text books Watch mindless Youtube videos Birdwatch
  24. Don't have credit, so that's out of the way. I could try selling a few things (had to do that to cover app and xscript fees, but that's life). I might be able to get my parents to help with transportation but I worry about apperances since they're going to want to tag along.
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