sjoh197 Posted January 16, 2015 Posted January 16, 2015 Undergrad Institution: LSUMajor(s): GeologyMinor(s): NoneGPA in Major: 3.4Overall GPA: 2.9Type of Student: Domestic femaleGRE Scores (revised/old version):Q: 154V: 169W: 4.5Research Experience: 1 year of geochron analysis. 1 Summer job in the same research lab running prepping geochron Illites. I am currently at UCSB, dating zircons at the split stream laser ablation ICP-MS facility. Applying to Where: UT Austin, Rice, University of Houston, Oklahoma State, UT Arlington Are you applying to a PhD or MSc program? Unless you have a faculty member at the school itself who will support your application, I'd say your profile will not be competitive for admission into UT Austin, Rice, UHouston, and Oklaholma State. UHouston - According to a faculty there I know, they had 600 applicants to UH last year and less than 5% were offered admissions. It would be a shot in the dark, but hey why not try when there is no application fee for domestic applications. I didn't think that my application was really that bad. My GRE was supposed to be Q: 159 and V: 164. Not sure how that got messed up. My research is a bit more in depth than what I posted. I worked on the Illite Crystallinity of multiple samples from a transect in the Ladakh-Chamba region of the Himalayas, in order to determine thermochronological data. I worked on size and mica separations for samples from the same transect, to prepare them for Ar testing, to test extrusion models of the Greater Himalayan Crystalline Sequence in the South Tibetan Detachment. I have done zircon separations and laser ablation split stream analysis for U-Th-Pb on these zircons at the LA-ICP-MS facility at UCSB. Awesome place, I must say. It wasn't nerve wracking at all to operate a 2 million dollar machine at 2am alone... said no one ever. I will be second author on a major paper (my advisor will be first obviously) that we will be submitting to a USGS bulletin. That obviously won't have any real effect on my application, as it won't be finished. lol. My gpa is well explained in my LOR's, as my daughter passed away in the middle of one of my semesters and I failed everything the next semester before moving to geology. All of my conversations with POI's went really well, I thought. Everyone was very encouraging and seemed enthusiastic. Much better than the static silence I've heard about from other posters. jamesy1116 1
GeoMex Posted January 17, 2015 Posted January 17, 2015 Hey everyone, sorry to be posting a little late, but here it goes. Give me your opinion! Undergrad Institution: Mid/large private school in TX Major(s): Geophysics Minor(s): MathGPA in Major: 3.44Overall GPA: 3.14Position in Class: N/AType of Student: Born/lived abroad, but currently a US citizen. Minority, male.GRE Scores (revised/old version):Q: 159V: 154W: 6.0 ------> is this worth anything? just curious..Research Experience: Written one small research paper, attended one REU funded by NSF and Los Alamos Nat'l Lab. Abstract publication and pres. at AGU. Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Dean's List for a semester, not much other than that.Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Student member of SEG,AAPG,SSA..do field work now and then for profs/grad studentsAny Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Fluent in speaking/writing/reading in two languages, not sure if this helps. Special Bonus Points: Several grad classes in geophysics and computing with geophysical data. Two of my LOR are from my institution, one is from a different institution out of state (a professor from my REU). One of my institution LOR writers worked for 13 yrs at one of the institutions I am applying to and works with four different POI's out of the seven institutions I am applying to. The other two are relatively well known...Have met/talked with POI's from 4/7 institutionsAny Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I am a student athleteApplying to Where: UT Austin - JSG - MS Geophysics University of Kansas - MS Geophysics University of Oklahoma- MS Geophysics Texas Tech - MS Geophysics Texas A&M - MS Geophysics CSM - MS Geophysics UH - MS Geophysics I've had some good experience, and the courses I've taken are reflective of that. I'm a little worried about GPA, but we'll see what happens.. Welcome. You're applying to a all of the Universities I applied to and more. Maybe we'll see each other around if we get in those. Our GPA and GRE scores are similar, except for the AW one, yours is way better. Good luck!
anco3393 Posted January 17, 2015 Posted January 17, 2015 Welcome. You're applying to a all of the Universities I applied to and more. Maybe we'll see each other around if we get in those. Our GPA and GRE scores are similar, except for the AW one, yours is way better. Good luck! Thanks! I sure hope so, good luck to you as well!
jamesy1116 Posted January 17, 2015 Posted January 17, 2015 Did anyone hear back from any schools ? Nope. Only deadlines that have passed for me have been on Jan 1, 5, and 15 so I don' expect much until February.
tuff Posted January 17, 2015 Posted January 17, 2015 (edited) I didn't think that my application was really that bad. My GRE was supposed to be Q: 159 and V: 164. Not sure how that got messed up. My research is a bit more in depth than what I posted. I worked on the Illite Crystallinity of multiple samples from a transect in the Ladakh-Chamba region of the Himalayas, in order to determine thermochronological data. I worked on size and mica separations for samples from the same transect, to prepare them for Ar testing, to test extrusion models of the Greater Himalayan Crystalline Sequence in the South Tibetan Detachment. I have done zircon separations and laser ablation split stream analysis for U-Th-Pb on these zircons at the LA-ICP-MS facility at UCSB. Awesome place, I must say. It wasn't nerve wracking at all to operate a 2 million dollar machine at 2am alone... said no one ever. I will be second author on a major paper (my advisor will be first obviously) that we will be submitting to a USGS bulletin. That obviously won't have any real effect on my application, as it won't be finished. lol. My gpa is well explained in my LOR's, as my daughter passed away in the middle of one of my semesters and I failed everything the next semester before moving to geology. All of my conversations with POI's went really well, I thought. Everyone was very encouraging and seemed enthusiastic. Much better than the static silence I've heard about from other posters. Hi sjoh, I'm really sorry for your loss. I believe that having research experience (analytical experience in particular) makes you a competitive candidate in the geosciences. Your GRE scores are also pretty good (certainly a lot better than mine). The stats we all post are just a teeny tiny window into our academic history/potential, so take what people say here with a grain of salt. As the Dude puts it: Yeah, well, that's just, like, your opinion, man. Edited January 17, 2015 by tuff
GeoMex Posted January 19, 2015 Posted January 19, 2015 I was rejected from CSM. First one is a bad one, my hopes are low as hell.
teddybrosevelt Posted January 19, 2015 Posted January 19, 2015 I was rejected from CSM. First one is a bad one, my hopes are low as hell. Hey GeoMex, sorry to hear about your recent news! I don't have much to add besides, do your best to stay positive! Did the school take the time to explain their reasoning?? Best of luck on the rest of your applications!
GeoMex Posted January 19, 2015 Posted January 19, 2015 Hey GeoMex, sorry to hear about your recent news! I don't have much to add besides, do your best to stay positive! Did the school take the time to explain their reasoning?? Best of luck on the rest of your applications! No. It was just like a template letter you know, just change the name and that. I wrote them to know if they could explain the decision, I'm waiting for their answer.
sjoh197 Posted January 20, 2015 Posted January 20, 2015 GeoMex Although I am not necessarily the person to ask.... You might do well to contact them later about your rejection... as you are much less likely to get a response during this particularly busy time.
geographyrocks Posted January 20, 2015 Posted January 20, 2015 CSM receives a ridiculous amount of applications so 1) there may be nothing wrong with your materials 2) even if there was, they may not be able to tell you. And I agree with sjoh197, you are much more likely to get a response after the April deadline.
GeoMex Posted January 20, 2015 Posted January 20, 2015 GeoMex Although I am not necessarily the person to ask.... You might do well to contact them later about your rejection... as you are much less likely to get a response during this particularly busy time. Already didm if they respond, good, if not well what can I do. CSM receives a ridiculous amount of applications so 1) there may be nothing wrong with your materials 2) even if there was, they may not be able to tell you. And I agree with sjoh197, you are much more likely to get a response after the April deadline. Probably not met their standards or something, they have a low % of acceptance, so I'm not that surprised either
GeoMex Posted January 20, 2015 Posted January 20, 2015 GeoMex Although I am not necessarily the person to ask.... You might do well to contact them later about your rejection... as you are much less likely to get a response during this particularly busy time. CSM receives a ridiculous amount of applications so 1) there may be nothing wrong with your materials 2) even if there was, they may not be able to tell you. And I agree with sjoh197, you are much more likely to get a response after the April deadline. I just heard from them. Apparently the research group that aligns with my interests is full and probably won't admit many students this year. I suppose they are the only ones with the equipment and software necessary to do the job. Anyway, at least now I know it was not because of my credentials or at least they said so.
darkstar Posted January 20, 2015 Posted January 20, 2015 Should you email your PI to let them know when you have officially submitted your application? Is this overkill? Thanks.
GeoMex Posted January 20, 2015 Posted January 20, 2015 (edited) Should you email your PI to let them know when you have officially submitted your application? Is this overkill? Thanks. I did. First, because they told me to, second, I think at one point they have something to do with it. So yes, you should contact them. Edited January 20, 2015 by GeoMex
GeoDUDE! Posted January 20, 2015 Posted January 20, 2015 Should you email your PI to let them know when you have officially submitted your application? Is this overkill? Thanks. I never did this, I'm not sure I would do it unless they asked me to.
geographyrocks Posted January 20, 2015 Posted January 20, 2015 Someone got into Princeton today. Holy crap! Did you see those stats? That's why most advice is simply guesswork. I would never imagine someone with stats that low would be accepted into Princeton. GeoMex 1
GeoDUDE! Posted January 20, 2015 Posted January 20, 2015 Holy crap! Did you see those stats? That's why most advice is simply guesswork. I would never imagine someone with stats that low would be accepted into Princeton. I don't know what he/she means by "got almost full stipend". I really doubt Princeton accepts someone without full funding.
GeoMex Posted January 20, 2015 Posted January 20, 2015 (edited) Holy crap! Did you see those stats? That's why most advice is simply guesswork. I would never imagine someone with stats that low would be accepted into Princeton. I didn't want to mention it since mine are not good either, but yeah. If I had known I'd have applied just for the heck of it. Edited January 20, 2015 by GeoMex
darkstar Posted January 21, 2015 Posted January 21, 2015 (edited) Thanks for the responses. I let one PI know know that I had applied. I let the others be. Edited January 21, 2015 by darkstar
columbia09 Posted January 21, 2015 Posted January 21, 2015 Thanks for the responses. I let one PI know know that I had applied. I let the others be. I just emailed all of them (including the two that didn't respond) that I submitted my app and that if they have any questions please let me know
GeoMex Posted January 21, 2015 Posted January 21, 2015 I just emailed all of them (including the two that didn't respond) that I submitted my app and that if they have any questions please let me know What kind of questions could a POI have about your application? other than perhaps your name or application id maybe.
columbia09 Posted January 21, 2015 Posted January 21, 2015 What kind of questions could a POI have about your application? other than perhaps your name or application id maybe. Many, perhaps why my GRE scores are low or how I'm doing with my senior thesis etc. This is especially true if they are on the committee or have any say in the process which I'm sure they do
darkstar Posted January 21, 2015 Posted January 21, 2015 I am so anxious for any news that I would even be excited for other people's news right about now. And yes, I know it is still too early.
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