2015 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

[GeoDUDE!]

Same here... the PNW is completely devoid of my speciality. 

[columbia09]

This is so comforting to hear, since things aren't looking good for me this time around. Congratulations! It's wonderful that your persistence paid off; you clearly deserve this! 

Why do you say that ? :/

[Deepwater]

Just got an acceptance from UW! Well, this has certainly been the opposite of last application season for me...

 

For anyone reading this several months down the road who may have not been accepted anywhere this application cycle: let my experience stand as proof that getting shut out one season does not mean that you will necessarily experience the same thing next season. As long as you spend your in-between time productively, strengthening your application material and developing relationships with POIs, there will be hope for your grad school career. Don't give up!

 

Such a nice way to say that! Huge congratulatons! And yes, I am envious (in a good way).

[GeoMex]

Just got an acceptance from UW! Well, this has certainly been the opposite of last application season for me...

 

For anyone reading this several months down the road who may have not been accepted anywhere this application cycle: let my experience stand as proof that getting shut out one season does not mean that you will necessarily experience the same thing next season. As long as you spend your in-between time productively, strengthening your application material and developing relationships with POIs, there will be hope for your grad school career. Don't give up!

 

Congratulations laocoon! that's awesome and great words of motivation for everyone.

[columbia09]

Anybody hear of any rejections from UT ?

[jamesy1116]

Anybody hear of any rejections from UT ?

Someone I know who applied to UT didn't get his rejection letter until 2 months into his new graduate program.

[idiochromatic]

Official MIT acceptance arrived by mail today! Had heard informally before but nice to see it printed on paper.

[columbia09]

Someone I know who applied to UT didn't get his rejection letter until 2 months into his new graduate program.

That's rediculus.......

[darkstar]

Has anyone attending the UT student weekend been paired with their host yet or contacted by the Graduate Student Executive Committee? 

[Deepwater]

Someone I know who applied to UT didn't get his rejection letter until 2 months into his new graduate program.

Don't want to sound pessimist but does that mean UT offers are almost over and I am going to get a last-remaining-bunch-generic-reject except some miracle happens.

Anyone heard from Oklahoma?

[sjoh197]

Don't want to sound pessimist but does that mean UT offers are almost over and I am going to get a last-remaining-bunch-generic-reject except some miracle happens.

Anyone heard from Oklahoma?

 

I haven't heard anything from oklahoma, but looking at their stats, it seems like they don't send anything out until last week of february/first week of march...

[IamLorde]

Has anyone attending the UT student weekend been paired with their host yet or contacted by the Graduate Student Executive Committee?

Nope, haven't heard back. I've already booked my flight, so hoping for more info soon.

Edited February 12, 2015 by IamLorde

[watsondoodle]

Quick question for everyone. One of my potential advisors asked me to come by if I was in the general area and talk to him then instead of talking on the phone. How important do you think it is of a priority to go visit this school? With all my other potential advisors, we just talked on the phone about our plans and possible research. I didn't make enough contact with my potential advisors last cycle(or that's what I think went wrong ), so do you think a visit would be beneficial?

 

(All these schools have later deadlines than most of the schools folks are hearing back from on here)

Edited February 12, 2015 by watsondoodle

[geographyrocks]

I thought the oil/gas folks might be interested in this.

 

http://us6.campaign-archive2.com/?u=d95936b6df&id=5ec58f98e8&e=3ccdfaef63

[columbia09]

I thought the oil/gas folks might be interested in this.

 

http://us6.campaign-archive2.com/?u=d95936b6df&id=5ec58f98e8&e=3ccdfaef63

 

Too bad I'm not hispanic........

[sophie anne]

Not sure how to edit my old post so I'll just repost this here:

Undergrad Institution: Small, prestigious liberal arts; known as a "strong" geology program
Major(s): Geology

GPA in Major: 4.00
Overall GPA: 4.00
Position in Class: Top
Type of Student: Domestic

GRE Scores (revised):
Q: 164
V: 156
W: 4.5

Research Experience: 4 years of research experience, on campus at my school, which led to multiple national conference talks; research off-campus at a internationally recognized laboratory, which led to an honors thesis and 1 publication thus far; research off-campus at a second well-known research institution, with publications pending.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: National scholarships (NOAA Hollings and Goldwater) and multiple competitive smaller fellowships, dean's list every semester, other awards within my department/school

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Tutor and TA for geology classes

Special Bonus Points: Several of my research advisors are well-known and respected scientists in my desired field, so I'll have great LORs

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Lots of volunteer work/teaching experience related to improving participation of minorities in STEM

Applying to Where:
Caltech - Geology - Geobiology - Rejected 02/12/15 in a (very kind) email from my POI
MIT + MIT/WHOI - EAPS - Geobiology - Rejected 02/07/15 in another nice email from my POI
CU Boulder - Geology - Geobiology

UC Davis - Geology - Geobiology

Penn State - Geosciences - Geobiology

Princeton - Geology - Biogeochemistry - Rejected 02/12/15 in a generic email from the Dean of the Graduate School (Boo, Princeton, boo!)

Brown - Geology - Biogeochemistry - Accepted 02/11/15 in an email from a POI, with official materials to arrive in March

At this point, I'm expecting rejections from the other three as well but it isn't over till it's over.

 

The offer from Brown is great (funding guaranteed for 5+ years) so while this process has certainly been a reality adjustment in just how competitive these programs are, it's been a success. The research fit may not be the best at Brown, though, so I'm left making the decision between taking this offer now or taking some time off to improve my qualifications and try again for MIT/Caltech in the future...

 

I do have a job as a lab tech lined up for next year so I'm considering deferring Brown even if I do decide to accept their offer.

 

Best of luck to you all, and let my results be a lesson that admission to these programs is not always just a result of your qualifications, research fit and whether the POI wants you... even if all of these things fall into place you may still end up with $600 in rejection letters! So definitely make sure to have a backup plan! Ugh 

Edited February 12, 2015 by sophie anne

[columbia09]

Not sure how to edit my old post so I'll just repost this here:

At this point, I'm expecting rejections from the other three as well but it isn't over till it's over.

 

The offer from Brown is great (funding guaranteed for 5+ years) so while this process has certainly been a reality adjustment in just how competitive these programs are, it's been a success. The research fit may not be the best at Brown, though, so I'm left making the decision between taking this offer now or taking some time off to improve my qualifications and try again for MIT/Caltech in the future...

 

I do have a job as a lab tech lined up for next year so I'm considering deferring Brown even if I do decide to accept their offer.

 

Best of luck to you all, and let my results be a lesson that admission to these programs is not always just a result of your qualifications, research fit and whether the POI wants you... even if all of these things fall into place you may still end up with $600 in rejection letters! So definitely make sure to have a backup plan! Ugh 

 

May I ask who your advisor at Penn State is ?

[GeoDUDE!]

 

The offer from Brown is great (funding guaranteed for 5+ years) so while this process has certainly been a reality adjustment in just how competitive these programs are, it's been a success. The research fit may not be the best at Brown, though, so I'm left making the decision between taking this offer now or taking some time off to improve my qualifications and try again for MIT/Caltech in the future...

 

Hey Sophie, here is some unsolicited advice:

 

I think its a tough decision, but you know if you are interested in academia, what you do for you PhD is probably not what you will be doing 20 years after you finish your PhD. The important thing about PhD work is that you enjoy doing it, and fits within broad interests instead of specific interests. For example, I applied to work on computational geodynamics problems, but beyond that, advisor and lifestyle fit (and some prestige) s what matter more to me. It didn't matter as much to me if i was going to work on subduction zones or crustal deformation  ect. What was important to me was that I had a mentor that could help me build the skills I needed to acquire to attack the difficult TYPES of problems I wanted to answer, but not exactly specific problems. 

 

I have also found that my approach to solving problems has improved exponentially in graduate school, so the type of things i'm interested investigating has also changed. I think the most successful graduate students in geosciences have 1 main project and a few side projects they work on with collaborators, and those collaborations (at least the ones im currently in) are on topics I never would have thought I would be able or interested in studying.

 

When choosing where you go to graduate school it is imperative that you think about who might be at those places and not who you are now.  Do you like the person you might become? Then thats a good sign to go. 

 

 

I am glad you see this season as a success, as I'm not sure Caltech/MIT is an upgrade from Brown's department (in general, of course). I have a friend there now, and my undergraduate advisor and masters advisor both did their PhD there.  Have you visited the department ?

 

I think it's very mature to think about not going to graduate school at all when you have such a great offer. But I also caution you to not overlook something because you had such a specific interest or your hearts set on another place. 

 

Either way, I don't think you can lose at this point... which is a great place to be! 

[sophie anne]

Hey Sophie, here is some unsolicited advice:

 

I think its a tough decision, but you know if you are interested in academia, what you do for you PhD is probably not what you will be doing 20 years after you finish your PhD. The important thing about PhD work is that you enjoy doing it, and fits within broad interests instead of specific interests. For example, I applied to work on computational geodynamics problems, but beyond that, advisor and lifestyle fit (and some prestige) s what matter more to me. It didn't matter as much to me if i was going to work on subduction zones or crustal deformation  ect. What was important to me was that I had a mentor that could help me build the skills I needed to acquire to attack the difficult TYPES of problems I wanted to answer, but not exactly specific problems. 

 

I have also found that my approach to solving problems has improved exponentially in graduate school, so the type of things i'm interested investigating has also changed. I think the most successful graduate students in geosciences have 1 main project and a few side projects they work on with collaborators, and those collaborations (at least the ones im currently in) are on topics I never would have thought I would be able or interested in studying.

 

When choosing where you go to graduate school it is imperative that you think about who might be at those places and not who you are now.  Do you like the person you might become? Then thats a good sign to go. 

 

 

I am glad you see this season as a success, as I'm not sure Caltech/MIT is an upgrade from Brown's department (in general, of course). I have a friend there now, and my undergraduate advisor and masters advisor both did their PhD there.  Have you visited the department ?

 

I think it's very mature to think about not going to graduate school at all when you have such a great offer. But I also caution you to not overlook something because you had such a specific interest or your hearts set on another place. 

 

Either way, I don't think you can lose at this point... which is a great place to be! 

Thanks GeoDUDE! I really appreciate your thoughts on the matter.

 

It seems that you and I are pretty much on the same page about the decision here... That it's more important I am happy with myself and the skills I'm gaining than the specific research focus of my advisor and thesis.

 

Most of my work thus far has been in geobiology (with a heavier emphasis on the biology side) and my job as a lab tech would be as a geobiologist with one of my current research advisors. That advisor feels pretty strongly that Brown is "too paleo," but frankly he's a biologist and not a geologist so our viewpoints tend to differ. He's pushing for me to take the year with him to publish in some high impact journals and reapply to the more competitive schools on my list.

 

Thing is-- funding at Brown is surer than it seems to be at Caltech, MIT and Boulder... and that's nothing to sneeze at!!!

 

Mainly, I want to have a really candid discussion with my POI at Brown to make sure that he thinks we can tie in my biology background to a really interesting project. I got accepted to the joint program with the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, so this really could be the best of all worlds with a strong geo department and access to a great biological research institution.

 

What I'd really like to do, I think, is take the year to finish up my current research and get some publications and defer Brown until the fall of 2016 (if my advisor will let me do that) because the skills and publications I'd get during this year in-between would definitely make me a more experienced scientist and probably a better graduate student. Also, the lab tech position involves some Arctic field work soooo that's more than a little tempting!

 

So the question becomes, what will I do if Brown says no gap year and I need to either turn down the acceptance or reapply next year?

 

Ahh... At least I have a decision to make. Like you said... either way it ain't too shabby! 

 

ETA: Yes, I've visited Brown and met both of my potential advisors (one at Brown in the geo dept and one at MBL) and I loved it! I really think I would be happy there. The grad students were people I immediately felt at home with, and I really liked the other professors I met.

Edited February 12, 2015 by sophie anne

[idiochromatic]

Thanks GeoDUDE! I really appreciate your thoughts on the matter.

 

It seems that you and I are pretty much on the same page about the decision here... That it's more important I am happy with myself and the skills I'm gaining than the specific research focus of my advisor and thesis.

 

Most of my work thus far has been in geobiology (with a heavier emphasis on the biology side) and my job as a lab tech would be as a geobiologist with one of my current research advisors. That advisor feels pretty strongly that Brown is "too paleo," but frankly he's a biologist and not a geologist so our viewpoints tend to differ. He's pushing for me to take the year with him to publish in some high impact journals and reapply to the more competitive schools on my list.

 

Thing is-- funding at Brown is surer than it seems to be at Caltech, MIT and Boulder... and that's nothing to sneeze at!!!

 

Mainly, I want to have a really candid discussion with my POI at Brown to make sure that he thinks we can tie in my biology background to a really interesting project. I got accepted to the joint program with the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, so this really could be the best of all worlds with a strong geo department and access to a great biological research institution.

 

What I'd really like to do, I think, is take the year to finish up my current research and get some publications and defer Brown until the fall of 2016 (if my advisor will let me do that) because the skills and publications I'd get during this year in-between would definitely make me a more experienced scientist and probably a better graduate student. Also, the lab tech position involves some Arctic field work soooo that's more than a little tempting!

 

So the question becomes, what will I do if Brown says no gap year and I need to either turn down the acceptance or reapply next year?

 

Ahh... At least I have a decision to make. Like you said... either way it ain't too shabby! 

 

ETA: Yes, I've visited Brown and met both of my potential advisors (one at Brown in the geo dept and one at MBL) and I loved it! I really think I would be happy there. The grad students were people I immediately felt at home with, and I really liked the other professors I met.

I think you have a great perspective on all of this. My two cents (and I certainly don't pretend to know more than you)--I will be a better graduate student for working before I go to grad school, and I think that taking the time to work before grad school is looked very well upon by faculty and adcoms. So I would encourage you to pursue the gap year; you're likely to emerge more focused, a better manager of your own time, and you'll pursue your grad studies with a "career" rather than a "student" mindset. If Brown lets you defer, then that is really awesome. If not, it might be worth following up with your friendly POIs at Caltech and MIT to see how your application might improve and focus on that over the next year.

[Usmivka]

Quick question for everyone. One of my potential advisors asked me to come by if I was in the general area and talk to him then instead of talking on the phone. How important do you think it is of a priority to go visit this school? With all my other potential advisors, we just talked on the phone about our plans and possible research. I didn't make enough contact with my potential advisors last cycle(or that's what I think went wrong ), so do you think a visit would be beneficial?

 

(All these schools have later deadlines than most of the schools folks are hearing back from on here)

If you are in the general area and have the opportunity to speak in person, why wouldn't you? You'll both get a better feel for each other that way. Your prospective advisor didn't ask you to make a special cross country trip--he just asked that you interview in person if it is geographically convenient (for me, that would mean a day trip via car or public transit). If you are local (or in the area for another school visit and could easily add a half day to your trip) and you decline this request, I can't see it reflecting positively on your motivation to work in his lab.

[idiochromatic]

If you are in the general area and have the opportunity to speak in person, why wouldn't you? You'll both get a better feel for each other that way. Your prospective advisor didn't ask you to make a special cross country trip--he just asked that you interview in person if it is geographically convenient (for me, that would mean a day trip via car or public transit). If you are local (or in the area for another school visit and could easily add a half day to your trip) and you decline this request, I can't see it reflecting positively on your motivation to work in his lab.

I agree--you should go out of your way to go. If it's not feasible or you can't afford the travel, you should write and explicitly say, "I'm unable to visit due to financial constraints--but I am very enthusiastic about your lab. Could we speak by Skype or over the phone?"

[sjoh197]

I am becoming inexplicably depressed with the lack of news from anywhere. 

[mtnman20]

I thought this week would surely be the week I hear something back...no dice yet 

[Deepwater]

I am becoming inexplicably depressed with the lack of news from anywhere. 

Painful days! I sleep everyday and hope the morning sun would bring some good news (yes I am from the other hemisphere) and all I see in my mailbox is junk, ads, Linkedin invites and anything that has nothing related to admissions. It gets real difficult to concentrate on work either!!!

Ehh!