2016 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

[zerozircon]

Hi guys,

I will be visiting a grad school on Thursday and Friday.  I am currently trying to compile a list of questions to ask while there, and I wondered if you guys have any suggestions.  I have the basic ones, but can you guys think of any more specific to geology or ones that people don't normally ask.

Thanks!

[ZrSiO4]

Hellooooo

I got an email from the POI at the school I really really wanted to get in to in which he very kindly told me that they won't be able to admit me this year. I am pretty crushed and trying to rekindle my self-confidence. I had been in contact with the POI and felt my chances were pretty darn decent. Would it be acceptable for me to email him and ask for feedback on why I didn't make the cut?? (I already responded right after the original email thanking him for consideration etc). 

pooooooop

[columbia09]

6 minutes ago, ZrSiO4 said:

Hellooooo

I got an email from the POI at the school I really really wanted to get in to in which he very kindly told me that they won't be able to admit me this year. I am pretty crushed and trying to rekindle my self-confidence. I had been in contact with the POI and felt my chances were pretty darn decent. Would it be acceptable for me to email him and ask for feedback on why I didn't make the cut?? (I already responded right after the original email thanking him for consideration etc). 

pooooooop

Yea I would I asked one of my advisors why he didn't choose me and he even said you can call me to discuss it. 

[gelologist]

Word is first round of Harvard letters come in the next week or two. Seeing as Columbia has been on a similar timeline in years past, I imagine first words for them comes out soon too.

[Geo1993]

Does anyone know if the University reviews their applications in any certain order? Yesterday one of my friends got accepted to work with the same adviser I applied to at that school. He told me he was looking at taking 1 or 2 masters students. When I talked to one of the people who wrote my rec letters a couple of weeks ago they said they heard from this POI that I was likely to get accepted. It appears that this school has only sent out a few acceptances yet from what I can tell based on the activity of this board. Do I have anything to worry about yet?

[Yunix]

Got an email from a POI at WHOI-MIT joint program asking me whether I'm interested in the POI's project (this POI was not listed in my application). Obviously not a guarantee of admission, but it's good to hear at least something for the first time from any school since forever.

Edited February 5, 2016 by Yunix

[magnetite]

That's good news! I've been in contact with a POI at WHOI who has a funding proposal pending, but won't know until April.

I've seen an acceptance today for Arizona State's geology program, and two rejections for Washington's oceanography. I applied to both, so I've got really mixed feelings right now.

[Yunix]

@magnetite I didn't apply to Arizona State or Washington. In hindsight I should've applied to at least Washington because it has such a strong oceanography program, with their huge OOI project ongoing (read: $$). Best of luck to you!

[CornUltimatum]

41 minutes ago, magnetite said:

That's good news! I've been in contact with a POI at WHOI who has a funding proposal pending, but won't know until April.

I've seen an acceptance today for Arizona State's geology program, and two rejections for Washington's oceanography. I applied to both, so I've got really mixed feelings right now.

 

Yes, I saw the Arizona State acceptance! Still the selection process over there is very "professor," heavy. Also my POI there told me a while back the review process can take "months," so they may not of sent out all of the notices yet (good and bad). I also applied there but have no word on what's up so now I'm a bit worried none-the-less. :|

 

Congrats to that one person though! 

Edited February 5, 2016 by CornUltimatum

[emmuhhs]

Undergrad Institution: Northeastern University
Major(s): Chemistry
Minor(s): Environmental Science
GPA in Major: 3.33
Overall GPA: 3.34
Position in Class: unknown
Type of Student: domestic female

GRE Scores:
Q: 156
V: 160
W: 5.5

Research Experience: 

4 months as an undergraduate research assistant in soil chemistry

6 months as an R&D chemist at Hasbro, Inc.

8 months as an undergraduate research assistant in environmental chemistry

6 months as an isotope geochemistry guest student at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

8 months (and ongoing) as a geochemistry guest student at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Dean's Scholarship

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: extensive research experience with Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution


Applying to Where:

University of Washington (Seattle) - ESS - Geochemistry

University of Colorado (Boulder) - Geological Sciences - Geochemistry

University of California (Berkeley) - ESS - Geochemistry

University of California (Santa Cruz) - ESS - Geochemistry

Edited February 7, 2016 by emmuhhs

[Yunix]

@emmuhhs Welcome to the thread! Such an impressive research record! I wonder why you didn't apply to the geochemistry Joint Program

[emmuhhs]

3 minutes ago, Yunix said:

@emmuhhs Welcome to the thread! Such an impressive research record! I wonder why you didn't apply to the geochemistry Joint Program

Thank you!  I've lived in Boston and the surrounding area my whole life so I am actively trying to move my life elsewhere and have some new experiences, at least for some time.

[Miner 49er]

On 2/5/2016 at 5:12 PM, Yunix said:

@magnetite I didn't apply to Arizona State or Washington. In hindsight I should've applied to at least Washington because it has such a strong oceanography program, with their huge OOI project ongoing (read: $$). Best of luck to you!

Congrats on hearing something from WHOI! I hear PO has funding for 1 student this year. LOL. My chances are down to zero for the Joint Program now, and that rejection from UW Oceanography was quick too!

[Yunix]

@Miner 49er don't lose hope! That one person could be you! I'm sorry to hear you got rejected from UW. 

[Different_Name_111!!!]

I received word from my POI at Lehigh.  If 2/10 students decline financial aid offers, I will be offered aid and admission.  Students have until April 15 to consider their offers, so I might be in the waiting pool for a while.  

 

I was told half of the offers prioritized PhD applicants.  I'm semi kicking myself for submitting MS applications everywhere, but that's where my heart is. 

[gelologist]

18 hours ago, SickSlickensides said:

I received word from my POI at Lehigh.  If 2/10 students decline financial aid offers, I will be offered aid and admission.  Students have until April 15 to consider their offers, so I might be in the waiting pool for a while.  

 

I was told half of the offers prioritized PhD applicants.  I'm semi kicking myself for submitting MS applications everywhere, but that's where my heart is. 

I feel for you. My first app cycle around, I also applied for only master's. Between a mediocre application and the sequester (it was 2013), I had no success. That includes a phone interview where I was explicitly asked if I wanted to change my app to a PhD from MS. I said 'no' because at the time I didn't know if the research life was what I wanted, so I basically knew right away that I was going to get rejected.

That said, the point of all this is to say that I applied again and did a MS, and I think it was really the best thing for me before now applying for PhDs. Sure, it's hard to hear you're wait listed, but only you know what's best for you. Would the opportunity cost, focus, time, etc., that gets sunk into a PhD have been worthwhile to your endgame when all is said and done? I think that's something important to keep in mind.

Plus, I think there's something to be said for the confidence that comes from "finishing a MS successfully" instead of "dropping out of a PhD program with a consolation prize MS," but that's just me.

[Different_Name_111!!!]

@gelologist  I'm not too torn up about being on the wait list; I could be farther down that list!  I looked at the statistics and found a high number of graduate students accepted into programs decline enrollment because they had better offers or preferences elsewhere.  For the last 10 years UW's graduate enrollment rates have ranged 31-76%, and UT hovers around 50-70%.  Many financial aid packages can be reassigned as students decline enrollment, so my hopes are high.  I was tempted to ask my Lehigh POI about stats, but I decided to play it cool since he's been phenomenal about keeping in touch with me.  

Thanks for the kind words about applying for MS programs.  I essentially decided it was the "right thing to do." I didn't want to enroll in a PhD with intentions of skipping town after the masters since I know it can wreck project funding or bump a real PhD applicant who has their sights set on that doctoral degree. 

Sidenote: I have a friend who's beginning her PhD in Providence in Fall '16!  I've heard some fantastic things about the program there.  

 

Edited February 8, 2016 by SickSlickensides
Formatting

[GeoDUDE!]

2 hours ago, SickSlickensides said:

@gelologist  I'm not too torn up about being on the wait list; I could be farther down that list!  I looked at the statistics and found a high number of graduate students accepted into programs decline enrollment because they had better offers or preferences elsewhere.  For the last 10 years UW's graduate enrollment rates have ranged 31-76%, and UT hovers around 50-70%.  Many financial aid packages can be reassigned as students decline enrollment, so my hopes are high.  I was tempted to ask my Lehigh POI about stats, but I decided to play it cool since he's been phenomenal about keeping in touch with me.  

Thanks for the kind words about applying for MS programs.  I essentially decided it was the "right thing to do." I didn't want to enroll in a PhD with intentions of skipping town after the masters since I know it can wreck project funding or bump a real PhD applicant who has their sights set on that doctoral degree. 

Sidenote: I have a friend who's beginning her PhD in Providence in Fall '16!  I've heard some fantastic things about the program there.  

 

 

Usually the larger the department, the lower the matriculation rate of acceptances.  I think even WHOI is in the 70s (I forget the actual number, this could be way off).  Smaller departments tend to be more careful about who they give acceptances to. 

[Yunix]

@GeoDUDE! It's 60% in 2015. http://mit.whoi.edu/statistics

[Different_Name_111!!!]

54 minutes ago, GeoDUDE! said:

Usually the larger the department, the lower the matriculation rate of acceptances...smaller departments tend to be more careful

Do you mind sharing statistics?  I totally believe you; I just don't have many connections who've gone to smaller R2 institutions.  

Based on WHOI's 2015 statistics, UW and WHOI accept a similar number of graduate students annually.  You're correct, WHOI's graduate enrollment rate was about 71% in 2015. 

[Yunix]

Oh right 25/35=71%. Well this is embarrassing.

[sjoh197]

UH has a similar enrollment stat... but the fact that they only admitted 20% last year has me pretty worried. 

[GeoDUDE!]

11 minutes ago, Yunix said:

Oh right 25/35=71%. Well this is embarrassing.

The number doesn't really matter, the real point I was trying to make that even the higher ranking schools don't get everyone they want at first. This should make sense, since within say, the 30 or 40 best earth science programs, the relative strength in each subdicipline not constant (some schools are better for geochem, geophysics, ect), but they are generally all higher quality in everything they do, so they get all the strongest applicants.  So it should be logical that the smaller departments that are well respected tend to be good at a few things, and only take students for those things, instead of the larger departments like UT which has everything, but isn't necessarily the best at everything.  70% is pretty low considering WHOI is easily one of the 5 best programs in the world.  

At my MS institution (~10 faculty), an unranked department we would have all our funded offers accepted usually, and then even have more people come who are unfunded.

So I admit that that there is some speculation on my front, but my impression for my current department (smaller than WHOI, but larger than 10 faculty) is that our matriculation rate is usually in the 80s to 90s (and my year was 100%).

The sad thing is a lot of departments only offer 1 round of acceptances, or have very small wait lists, so even if they dont fill all their spots, they dont try and fill them afterwords. 

 

Edited February 9, 2016 by GeoDUDE!

[Different_Name_111!!!]

DUDE, thanks for your input from both of your experiences.  I'm still going to read that email through rose colored glasses; that's the outlook I choose to have.  

18 minutes ago, GeoDUDE! said:

The sad thing is a lot of departments only offer 1 round of acceptances, or have very small wait lists, so even if they dont fill all their spots, they dont try and fill them afterwords. 

I was told Lehigh will roll down financial aid packages to make second offers should first round students decline.  I'm #2 on the wait list - so I got that goin' for me, which is nice. 

[GeoDUDE!]

39 minutes ago, SickSlickensides said:

DUDE, thanks for your input from both of your experiences.  I'm still going to read that email through rose colored glasses; that's the outlook I choose to have.  

I was told Lehigh will roll down financial aid packages to make second offers should first round students decline.  I'm #2 on the wait list - so I got that goin' for me, which is nice. 

I would be optimistic too.