Gneiss1

Woohoo I'm in! Now to fast track my life and get established in a new city by summer O_o I need to find a place to live, preferably a 3 bedroom single family home or townhouse. I also need to find a good, reasonably priced daycare or pre-school for my kids to attend while I am in school. My husband also needs to find a job in the area, he has a degree in video broadcasting. Any advice is welcome!

Undergraduate is in Environmental Science. My courseload was heavy in geoscience and math courses, but we didnt have an official geology program and I didn't want to be a math major. My graduate work is in Geophysics.

So excited got into my top choice today:) Full tuition waiver, benefits, and $1600/mo research assistantship. Soooo excited. There is still hope, don't give up guys:)

Ahh! It is a yes:) With funding! I'm beyond happy right now, liek cloud TEN happy. Best of luck to all of you there is definitely still hope!!

Rock joke. Read: Nice One.

I received an email today from my POI at my dream school. It said he has been requesting another grad school offer and there is a possibility that he can make another offer later this week. He went on to ask if I am still interested. So are my chances fairly good you think? And does a grad school offer generally entail funding if it has to be requested by the department?

I would probably wait to give them a chance to email/contact you since they are just getting responses in. Wait another week would be my suggestion.

My boyfriend found that hilarious (as did I) but he wanted to ensure I let you know "no calls and no emails make me something something" lol...

Emailing hourly sonds horrendously obnoxious. I wouldn't do that. I would just call and make sure you werent supposed to confirm online somewhere or something.

I'm in a similar situation waiting wise, applied to 5 school havent heard from any. I'm from VA and my brother got into pharmacy school at VCU for fall, but I dont knwo about the social work department. I would call if you havent yet or if there is someone you have been in touch with you could email them?

I'm beginning to feel like this must be some sort of bad dream where I just stop existing. I have applied to five schools. I felt I had a pretty strong application initially. I have a 3.93 GPA, excellent letters of recommendation, and while my GREs weren't perfect I was in the 70th percentile which I feel isn't bad. Maybe my statement of purpose wasn't good enough or something...I keep thinking of what I should have done different? Right now I have not heard a single answer...not one. I have been in touch with the schools, but don't want to be TOO in touch as to sound desperate. One told me I made the "short list" and my POI said they were meeting to make decisions two weeks ago...I still haven't heard anything. Not to be impatient, but the deadline for the applications were back in December. I guess I could understand if it were just one or two schools I was waiting on but all of them?! I mean they couldn't really all "still be in the decision process" could they? At this point that has to be a nice way of saying "you are waitisted, but we don't want to tell you in case other people say no and you become more desirable." Knowing April 15th is a week away isn't even comforting as I realize it still could be quite a bit beyond that. I don't even know how to begin planning right now. I have a whole family to move if I get in and need to figure out finances and daycare, etc. If I don't get in I need to get a job to get us through until next application season, but I don't know that I want to put in all this effort applying for jobs when I don't even know an answer yet. Ugh I'm just venting but this is really frustrating...and depressing. At this point at least a reject would confirm I exist! :/

I was just talking to one of my professors about this today. I still have yet to hear back from any of the 5 schools I have applied to. I think I would definitely try again next year, I thought my application was pretty strong but having to wait this long I am beginning to doubt myself. My professor recommended if I do get rejected to inquire where my weaknesses were and see what I could do between now and then to strengthen my application. Perhaps I can find a position in my field to work for a year. We will have to see:-/ It's not quite over yet.

April 31st? But that doesn't exist! They really will never tell you! How cruel! ok ok sorry just trying to add some levity to the situation. Waiting sucks:( I really hope we all get good answers soon!

You aren't alone:) I'm in a similar situation, I have applied to 5 schools and have yet to hear from any of them. It definitely has not been fun waiting. I figure they have to give me an answer one way or another sometime between now and the end of April... or August...eventually...lol. In terms of the rejection though, from everything I have read it doesn't always work as you would expect. A lot depends on funding, how many new students the school wants to take on, etc and that can vary from year to year. I wouldn't sweat too much where your rejection letter came from, that may not mean anything in terms of whether you will get in the other schools:)

I'm sorry:( There is always next year and perhaps other greater things are in store. Happy birthday, I'm sorry it wasn't such a great one:(

Grats Teejus!

Last I spoke to Notre Dame they hadn't decided yet but that was about 2 weeks ago.

Perhaps just some advice to those considering the whole pregnancy during grad school deal. I had my son during undergrad, he was born over winter break (on new years). I took lighter classes during the fall semester preceding his birth, but really I probably didn't have to. At 8 months pregnant I was out raking our 3 acre lawn with no problem. Never had morning sickness, back pain was minimal and definitely worth the shelf I gain (aka my stomach) to use for folding laundry and holding things. Pregnancy was great and easy! ...For any of you with different experiences you may know what I am about to say next. The second child... So our first one was EASY and I didn't wish to be 60 with kids graduating high school. We wanted a semi-big family (4) so get started early. So for child number two we got pregnant way earlier than expected (my son was only 4 months old) I still had a year of school left and mistakenly thought it would be the same as before. No. I was very, very wrong. My pregnancy with my daughter had such horrendous morning sickness for all 9 months is was frequently hospitalized for dehydration and had to where a zofran pump to deliver anti-nausea medication. I also had a complication with a cyst from the pregnancy that led to me having surgery while 6 months pregnant and being on bed rest pretty much the entire time. I have a beautiful, healthy 3 year old daughter today but that pregnancy definitely taught me that every child and pregnancy is not the same and you never know what you are going to get. I ended up losing a year and a half of school from all the complications. I realize this pregnancy is not the "norm" but I have seen enough friends go through complications of their own to know it is a gamble that isn't worth taking when you have so much to take on with grad school. You just don't know and can't know how your body will respond. I would wait and start trying right after graduation if you want to have a child soon or get established in your job for a while and then start trying.

You are definitely not alone. I am still waiting to hear back from all of my schools. It is amazing to see how in November when I applied I was confident and excited, then with each passing month the optimistic confidence has dwindled into this state of frustration and utter pessimism. This is somewhat ironic I think because to my knowledge the schools I have applied to have not made their decisions yet so I know in reality I am in the same boat today that I was in back in January, but the outlook is completely different. I can honestly say I never imagined applying to grad school would be such a mentally and emotionally taxing endeavor. I recall one of my favorite undergrad professors telling our class that applying to grad school is a "very humbling experience". I definitely understand what that means now and while we hope to hear good news from our schools all I can offer is that at least if that acceptance letter comes it will hopefully be worth it. I am sure I will be very, very grateful if that day comes as well as relieved! Also, if the letter does not come with good news then know it's not the end of everything and you can always try again next year better prepared for the crazy journey the application process entails.

I'm in something of a similar solution. I haven't been wait-listed, but none of the five schools I have applied to have made their decisions yet...I also have a family with our two little ones in daycare and kindergarten so arrangements will need to be made for that. I can't offer any advice, but just know you aren't alone! Its crazy not knowing what state you will be in a few months down the road isn't it? Hopefully these schools will all make their decisions within the next week. As for the waitlist part it seems that on the results search there are quite a few people getting accepted off of waitlists. I would assume around now is when everyone is making their final decisions on where they are going and giving notice to other schools so they can make new offers. There is most certainly still hope:)

http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/#earth-atmospheric-and-planetary-sciences That website is pretty awesome and gives you more classroom type knowledge with exams to test yourself. Rea

Exactly what they said. I can't say I know all that much about your degree, but in my field a bachelor's degree will land you a job (if you can find someone to hire you) paying around $40,000 for someone fresh out of college with no experience in my area. A master's degree with no work experience has a large job pool and starts at around $90,000 with a lot of opportunity for advancement. So for me that would definitely be worth it. My fiance on the other hand would only see about a $10-$15,000 pay increase with a masters degree in his field so for him it would not be worth it. Also you could look into working at least part time to offset some of your expenses as someone else mentioned.

I think it is just a really slow season for getting back to people from some universities. I have yet to here a decision from anyone yet (applied 5 schools) and last I spoke with them they all are still in the decision making process. Its quite nerve-wrecking.

Yes...applied 5, heard back from 0.

I think it really all depends on where you are renting citywise and the types of options you have available with the house/apt. As someone who has lived in a few different houses and apts in different cities though here is a really basic breakdown of some pros and cons to consider: Housing pros: - Neighbors are at least not attached to your building so you have less chance they are going to be obnoxious (walking loudly, loud music, staying up late, fighting, etc) - More space/better layout (usually) - A yard (this can be a pro and a con, for me personally though I used to love studying outside in a hammock by my garden, I cannot do that in my current apartment) Housing cons: - Upkeep, more space inevitably means more upkeep. Also yard maintenance? I have heard of some landlords handling yardwork for tenets, but in every house I have rented that was the tenets responsibility and also required I buy a lawn mower. - Utilities are more expensive. This is especially the case with homes that run off of oil, gas, or the old-style electric heating. I see you are headed to Illinois, you are going to want heat ;-) Air-conditioning too can be more expensive. Houses tend to be older than apartments (not always, but more often than not). Older appliances come with higher electric bills. You also will have to see what your city trash regulations are. One place I lived required I drive trash to the dump and another required either an annual can fee or trash tags be purchased. Apartment pros: - Onsite landlords (or at least close by ones hopefully!), if something breaks they fix it. No yardwork, no filter changes, etc assuming you are in a decent apartment complex. - Communal and often include desirable ammenities. If you are lucky enough to have good neighbors (perhaps you can find an all grad student complex) you can have close by friends. Also it is quite nice having an on-site gym and swimming pool. - Cheaper utilities and some places include utilities. Trash is generally included and I have seen some places that offer free internet and/or cover water/sewage bill. Apartment Cons: - Neighbors (Bad/loud ones and there is no real surefire way of knowing who you will get) - Space/position. Generally less room internally and if you end up on the third floor you will seriously take into consideration the size and weight of the groceries you buy. In the end it all will come down to what you like and location. The cost may balance out depending on your options. You could alwyas look for a more expensive nicer place and get a roommate, but that of course comes with gambles of its own. Figure out what is most important to you to narrow down some of your options (location? do you want to be right on the busline on do mind driving a bit? Do you need complete silence to study? Will you feel secure in a house by yourself? etc etc) and go from there:)