Geology 2009

[solefolia]

I haven't seen a whole lot of Geology results or postings, even from previous years, but a thread to see if there are any other applicants can't hurt.

Where are you applying, what are your research interests, have you heard back yet, etc.?

I'm a biology student more than anything else, but I have applied to a couple geoscience programs who have people working in geomicrobiology. I'd be interested to hear if anyone has heard from Penn State yet.

Good luck to all!

[Abiogenic Gas]

Hey, it's always a treat to find other earth science people here.

You can see where I'm applying in my signature below. I'm actually geophysics, but all my friends and family think it's the same as geology anyways. I myself haven't heard anything yet but I saw one person on the results list who heard from two of the schools I applied to (UCSD, Stanford).

Which programs did you apply to?

[skinkididoo]

I'm looking to do sedimentology/paleoclimate/geobiology research.

So far I've gotten a really good offer and a lot of interest from UT Austin, but haven't heard anything from the other schools, except to expect to hear from Berkeley (if I'm accepted) in late February and not til late-ish March if its rejected or accepted as a backup choice.

I'm super nervous about hearing from Stanford...

[Abiogenic Gas]

I'm looking to do sedimentology/paleoclimate/geobiology research.

So far I've gotten a really good offer and a lot of interest from UT Austin, but haven't heard anything from the other schools, except to expect to hear from Berkeley (if I'm accepted) in late February and not til late-ish March if its rejected or accepted as a backup choice.

I'm super nervous about hearing from Stanford...

Congrats on getting into UT. I did my undergrad and know a few grad students there so if you have questions on anything, I'd be happy to help (though I know more about the geophysics there than anything else).

How do you know to expect to hear from Berkeley in late February if accepted?

I had a phone interview with a prof from BU yesterday. I guess that's something to be happy about (though it's last on my list)?

[skinkididoo]

I got some sort of mass email from the EPS department at Berkeley:

"Finally, some information about the admissions process, for your

information. During the next few weeks faculty will be reviewing files,

and making decisions regarding their top candidates. We will make some

preliminary decisions during February, and mail out offer letters. Those

applicants will have until April 15 to notify us of their decisions. By

April 15th we will know how many candidates have accepted our offers, and

depending on the number, we may decide to extend additional offers. At

that time we will also send out an email letting everyone else know that

they are no longer being considered for admission."

Also, I just heard back from someone at the department of Earth and Geological Sciences at Stanford that decisions will be sent out by March 20th (holy crap that's so far away), but that there is a possibility of being notified sooner.

Congrats on the interview - at least its a first step. I was really relieved at first hearing from UT and arranging my visit, but now I'm even more anxious to hear from the other schools.

[solefolia]

I contacted Penn State today and got a fast reply. I feel a bit guilty now asking about where they're at in their admissions process. A couple replies from last year on the results board indicate that interview invitations went out in mid-January, so I thought maybe it'd be a similar timeline this year (and that I'd been rejected).

The grad coordinator told me it would still be a few weeks, most likely, before they start contacting folks (she did not indicate whether it would be for interviews or not) since they received a very large number of apps this year. Still not holding my breath.

[geochimica]

I applied the geochemistry program in Northwestern, Stanford and Yale.

I've received "Open House" invitation to Northwestern and yale - really don't know what that means.

Nothing happened to Stanford. But they told me that they are still reviewing materials, and the campus visit invitations will come from individual professors.

That's all that I know!

Good luck with you all!

[skinkididoo]

I recently heard from a professor at Stanford (via email) that he was interested in working with me on a particular project and suggesting having some sort of informal phone interview and a visit to Stanford. I think this is probably a really good step, unless of course all professors select a number of students to interview when they only intend to admit one. We'll see.

Good luck, everyone...

[Abiogenic Gas]

I received a rejection letter in the mail postmarked Feb. 5th from Stanford. I must have been a really poor candidate to have gone straight to postal rejection.

[Lynn]

I received an interview from Stanford in March. I am super nervous about this...what they are gonna ask me? How should I prepare it?....

[Lynn]

I checked with Bekerley about status, the coordinator told me that:

"Our first round of admission letters will go out by March 15th. Those candidates will have until April 15th to respond to our offer of admission. On April 15th, depending on how many people have accepted our offer, we might decide to send out additional letters offering admission. On that date we will also email everyone we are no longer considering for admission to let them know they were not admitted. Therefore, you will either hear from us by March 15th or April 15th."

March 15th...so long time to wait...

[skinkididoo]

I know at least two geosciences people from my school who have already been accepted to Berkeley, though, so it seems likely that outstanding candidates will be notified sooner than March 15. Neither of them are in quite the same discipline as me, though (I believe they are geobio and geochem).

[Abiogenic Gas]

Got a rejection email from University of Washington. That didn't surprise me though.

[geochimica]

skinkididoo do you have any idea that the Stanford visit will be supported by the department, or individual faculty's grants?

Thanks!

I recently heard from a professor at Stanford (via email) that he was interested in working with me on a particular project and suggesting having some sort of informal phone interview and a visit to Stanford. I think this is probably a really good step, unless of course all professors select a number of students to interview when they only intend to admit one. We'll see.

Good luck, everyone...

[geochimica]

Oh man! Good luck with the rest schools!

Got a rejection email from University of Washington. That didn't surprise me though.

[meankney]

Hey everyone. I am so glad I found this since I am starting to spaz out about graduate school.

I applied to: U of Wisconsin-Madison, U of Oregon, Oregon State, Stanford, U of Alaska-Fairbanks, and Washington State.

I've been unofficially accepted to UW-Madison in that they let me know I have been nominated for a university fellowship. I'm basically waiting until they tell me next week whether I would be supported by the dept or by the university.

Wisconsin is a great school, but I will definitely be upset if I don't get accepted anywhere else. It is encouraging that people are starting to hear back from Stanford--hopefully I'll hear something! I really just want to know YES or NO for all of my schools. I hate waiting.

Thanks, guys, for starting this. It is super helpful to get some feedback. My roommate is a chem major and apparently chemistry grad depts are a lot more on-the-ball. She's been accepted to 4 schools already! I wish geology would jump on the boat and send out some notices!

[skinkididoo]

skinkididoo do you have any idea that the Stanford visit will be supported by the department, or individual faculty's grants?

Thanks!

I haven't heard back from this professor yet, so I have no idea yet about the Stanford visit. I'll update when I know.

mebosket, I hear you about other disciplines being more on the ball. I have several friends in ChemE who've heard from most of their schools already.

[skinkididoo]

Holy crap, I'm having a phone interview with this prof at Stanford tomorrow. So nervous, but excited also!

[Abiogenic Gas]

Good luck, skinkididoo!

[meankney]

So, if anyone reading this applied to Oregon State University....

I have a friend from field camp who is in the grad program and she said decisions were made yesterday and letters of acceptance/rejection went out today!

I really hope I got in. Starting in about 3 days I'm going to be obsessively checking my mail. I wonder if they send out emails, too??

[geochimica]

Good luck, man!

Holy crap, I'm having a phone interview with this prof at Stanford tomorrow. So nervous, but excited also!

[skinkididoo]

The interview was pretty short - it seemed like he preferred to talk more in person or via email (no problem with me, I feel the same) and firmed up plans to visit in the end of March (so the current students will be back from the field). He mentioned that he would arrange a hotel for me once I book my flight, but no word yet on reimbursing the plane ticket (it seemed awkward to ask). And I guess we'll talk more about "extending an offer" when I visit. At least now I have a lot of time to read all the papers he's published on this topic in the last 4 years...

[meankney]

So, has anyone gotten any more notices in the past few days? I found out that I've basically been waitlisted at University of Oregon. He said they had a lot of very strong applicants this year and while I was one of them, they can't offer me admission now. He said they might be able to make a few more offers at the end of March/beginning of April if I could wait. It's a really crappy feeling to know that you are among the top applicants, but not quite good enough. It also makes me worried about not hearing from Oregon (which hopefully I should in the next few days--they made decisions last week/sent out letters in the past few days), Stanford, Washington, or Alaska.

[burntcheezits]

Did you find out by email or postal mail? I applied to U Oregon also but haven't heard anything yet.

So, has anyone gotten any more notices in the past few days? I found out that I've basically been waitlisted at University of Oregon. He said they had a lot of very strong applicants this year and while I was one of them, they can't offer me admission now. He said they might be able to make a few more offers at the end of March/beginning of April if I could wait. It's a really crappy feeling to know that you are among the top applicants, but not quite good enough. It also makes me worried about not hearing from Oregon (which hopefully I should in the next few days--they made decisions last week/sent out letters in the past few days), Stanford, Washington, or Alaska.

[meankney]

I sent them an email just asking if they had any idea about their timeline and they've already made all of choices for their first round of offers...so I'm guessing you're probably waitlisted, too.