Queen of Kale

I eat A LOT of kale. I mean, A LOT.

I've found in narrowing my choices and contacting professors that it's pretty hard to determine the difference between a "reach" and a more achievable goal. So I'm looking at my options less by rank (which has failed to correlate At All with the warmth or willingness to respond to emails) and more just as capturing a wide and representative swath of my chosen subfield. There's only maybe 20 schools that have what I'm interested in, I narrowed it down to seven by city, trying to maintain a mix of specialties and school characteristics, and then I included a "wild card" - a school I'm interested in but in a subfield outside my chosen interest. I know fit is the golden parameter but I thought if the universe was going to send me a message that I'd like to have an alternate route in place. As for the proportion of masters vs. phd, I'm literally just asking professors for preferences when I contact them. I want a phd but if my poi knows my background and recommends a masters I'd rather know now then after applying for a phd.

While I don't live in the Marigny exactly, I live nearby across St. Claude in what is called St. Roch. The Marigny is safe, as a middle class and upwardly mobile city neighborhood typically is (and I've lived on the outskirts of similar neighborhoods in many different cities). St Roch is just a little to the north and a little cheaper. Still safe but a little louder at night and more traveling kids. And then the Bywater is maybe the artsy-est in the area but with a slightly longer commute if you get stuck behind the train which will stand between you and your school. Rents north of the St. Claude line drop but with a slight uptick in crime. Still, I feel safer in my area where everyone is on the steps at night then some areas of uptown. Commute to UNO from that area is bike-able and a 15 min drive going 30 mph the whole way. Feel free to PM me with questions.

Green door

I don't want to be rude bigotryismoronic, and I think you expressed your point well overall, but on a personally level I'm not a big fan of the expression "blacks" even if you decide to capitalize it. And I'm even less a fan of joking that one cannot speak in the midst of these Blacks freely because they are habitual ass whoopers. I'm not sure others would agree, but given the overtures both your post and your screen name make towards racial sensitivity I thought I might just mention the discrepancy.

Not applying 'til next round but I'm a mineral physics and material science gal. Or as I tell my non-geo friends, "I want to squish rocks."

Many of you are still waiting for word from programs and I would wager that many more like me are following your wins with our fingers crossed, imagining ourselves in your shoes in the next year or two. For those that come behind you, I was wondering if you might weigh in on what research (or non research experience even) was pivotal towards putting you on your path today. The earth sciences can be dauntingly broad and graduate programs inherently focused - so how did you decide which corner of the geosciences to call your own? I'll start by saying undergraduate research at my school is extremely limited but that participating in an REU completely changed my life. I know there are a myriad of other programs, including the Naval Research Lab's NREIP, NASA's Develop, and the Department of Energy's SULI program. Were any of the programs fundemental to your specialization and if not, what was? A little longwinded but I wanted to be clear I wasn't looking to stay another "list all the internships that exist" thread.

Thanks for your replies. It was remembering that thread immediately after my test that actually put me in my tailspin - I remembered there being somewhat of a quant score/percentile slump with the new test. What I didn't remember, and rereading that thread set me straight on, was that the testing cohort they base percentiles on is done annually - so we should be safe for awhile. Although, it's ETS, I imagine they're always plotting something nefarious, kinda like Dr. Claw.

Thank you! Is it safe then to assume that the percentiles will be what ETS lists in the concordance table or is the percentile going to change based on more recent scores?

So, I just took my GRE yesterday (wishing I had a "I survived the GRE shirt" or one of the photos like they take during a roller coaster of my test taking panic face to commemorate the occasion) and of course at the end of the test they now provide you with unofficial scores. Not percentiles mind you, but your number. Immediately I was in the lobby trying to access the ETS concordance table on my phone when a troubling thought hit me- will my score possibly change? Is the number going to be effected if questions are omitted? And was it silly of me to think that my percentile could be accurately guessed using the concordance table? I had hoped that because the test is so new and our cohort so small that the percentiles will basically line up with the predicted values. Was that a silly presumption? Basically; how much can I count on these scores as both raw numbers to remain the same and as the basis of my percentile rank? Sorry for the rambling, I may have imbibed a wee bit too much coffee.

Oh turtle26mr, I am so happy to see someone who is applying for mineral physics join the thread! Even though this isn't my application season and I'm going to have to live vicariously through you. U. Of Washington is one of my dream schools. Is Dr. Brown your prospective advisor there? What type of mineral physics do you want to do? (I'm brimming over with excitement, I apologize for the crowding)

I'm a "long time lurker, first time poster" and I just wanted to use my first post to let you all know that I have my fingers crossed for all of you. This isn't my application season (that's a whole year away) but you have all blown me away with your qualifications and excitement for what you want to do. That's about it, I just wanted to let you know that there are strangers out there rooting for you.