TropicalCharlie

Don't give up! The reality is that acceptance notifications are continuously sent out through April. It's not over yet. Fight on my friends!

KJ90 - Depending on your field of study, I second jasmineflower on not incurring huge amounts of debt. For example, a MA in education, social work, or library science tends to yield less economic return in the job market when compared to a ms in accounting, science, or a mba. However, a fully funded master's is hard to come by these days, so i would expect to incur some or even moderate but manageable debt. If your program offers TA/RAships in exchange for a stipend or tuition discounts, that would certainly help you out. Another point I want to make is that you are an adult. There is no right or wrong timing, but stop taking money from your parents. As long as you continue to do so, they will hold it over your head like a carrot. You are very fortunate that your ug school helped you with scholarships and that you had your parents help (I assumed this since you talked about being cut off). Many students are not as fortunate and do not have families who could support them financially. The solution to this is student loans and work (if your program allows it). Again check the economic return before deciding on loans. Either way, you, as an independent (meaning parents are not claiming you on their tax return) will be able to get student loans to cover tuition and such. If you really want to, you can make this work on your own. Having a full ride would be ideal and most awesome, but there is something to be said of pride, when you can say that you struggled to make it but you did it all on your own.

Congrats on CSU! I don't think you have too much to worry about this fall. You and the rest of us will be in the same boat and feel like complete idiots, because that's how most new grad students feel. As for reading up on materials related to your program, a good start would be to review the departmental web site, especially POI's pages. You will find numerous publications listed in any professor's cv or on their webpage. Don't burn yourself out on these though. Enjoy your time before the weight of school settles in

eternal madness

Sounds like good news to me. I hope it's one of your top choices

guess who

US Postal media mail has very reasonable rates. I moved from the mainland to Hawaii and shipped all 30 boxes via US postal service. Worked out pretty well.

witches.

The advantage of going to UCSF (maybe I'm a bit biased as I am a former SF city dweller and also from California) is that there are numerous start-up biotech companies on top of very established ones. You will no doubt make tons of connections in the bay area. The possibilities are endless. Now look at UNC and think of the number of biotech companies or start-ups out that way. Does any come to mind? Will you be able to make connections in NC? If you have any questions about SF living and such, feel free to pm me.

I don't know whether it is feasible to carry on a full-time job while you're in school, but if you can work this out, one thing you might want to consider is moving half way between to cut down your commute. Though you have to consider how this will impact your husband, his commute, etc. Do you have children? When you contemplated applying to school, what were your thoughts on the possibility of getting accepted? Or was it a spur of the moment type of decision where you figured you'd deal with it once it happens?

To all with less than supportive families:

This is one of 9, so don't fret yet. Good luck!

Hang in there. There are many people here who are in the same boat as you and feeling the same range of emotions. Anger, despair, resigned, more anger.... As the other posters have said, having no news could be good as you may be in the next batch of applicants to be notified once the first round of acceptee responses come back. I know that the wait is agonizing and can be dragged on through May. Don't give up yet. In the mean time, as hard as it is, find something to distract yourself with.

love train

Taking a break between undergrad and grad school is a good idea as it gives you time to refresh and prepare your grad materials. However, how you spend that time off is important. If you plan to travel or just bum around, make sure that you keep in touch with your potential LOR writers, a quick email here and there is sufficient. Keep that line of communication open, so that when the time comes, you don't have to remind them of who you are and why they should be writing your LOR. If you plan to fill the year with something productive, a job, an internship, or volunteer work relevant to your ug degree is going to greatly strengthen your application. From personal experience, I actually worked for 5 years at a job related to my ug degree, and my work experience is what made my application package very strong. That coupled with awesome LOR's. I kept in touch with all my LOR writers throughout those years, and when it was time, I had no issues getting them to write for me.

At the moment, I am already 2500 miles from my family and actually will be moving closer to them this fall when I start my MS program. It's hard to describe my mom. She just asks questions that I perceive to be strange. Lol.

Pessimist - At this point, you just have to wait and see. Like finknottle said, you're not worse off than when you started. How early did you begin contacting poi's? I contacted mine about a year before I applied just to get an idea of their needs for grad students in the coming year, and 90% of those contacted have been responsive. I can sympathize with the lack of responses and how you must feel, but there is nothing to do but wait at this point. Good luck

Sounds like you are in. However, just shoot him an email and ask directly, so you can stop worrying.

Being human

You should take courses that apply toward International Affairs. Retaking relevant courses that you did not do well in previously would certainly help. I can't say that I know of any schools with a minimum gpa below 2.50. A less desirable and expensive option is to go back to school and get a second bachelor's degree. Start over and do really well. I have an acquaintance who has done this and did really well the second time around, and he went on to get his MS successfully.

The first step you should take is to contact the grad program coordinator at the schools you are interested in. Provide your stats, and they will be able to tell you what you need to do to improve your application package. These people are a great resource and usually very helpful. That said....2.35 is very low and will make your application uncompetitive. Your work experience and such will definitely strengthen your application, but adcomms are going to balk at the gpa. If possible, you should take post-bacc classes to improve your gpa and show adcomms that you have potential. Having superb gre scores would help a great deal in this case.

Facepalm! My mother on being informed that I've been accepted to my top choice school: "That's good. So you're going to move?" My thought bubble: No, mom. I'm just going to telepathically absorb the coursework for my degree from 3,300 miles away! Good grief.

book worm

buddy