If I'd known when I was applying to grad school what I know now, I think I might have tried harder to find an advisor who already had a big grant that could support at least some of my research. I guess I could've gotten in on Herb's big project, but I chose to strike out on my own. What was I thinking? I'm so sick of writing grants.
Showing posts with label applying to grad school. Show all posts
Showing posts with label applying to grad school. Show all posts
Monday, November 1, 2010
I'm so sick of writing grants
The title says it all. The summer before I started grad school, someone told me, "If you just apply for as many small grants as you can, you're bound to get something eventually." I took the advice to heart. I applied for a whole bunch of small grants and I got a bunch of small grants (and some fellowships). That's awesome. I wouldn't be able to do what I'm doing without that support. What I regret now is not trying to apply for bigger money about a year ago. I've funded everything with a couple thousand dollars here and there, totally piecemeal. I've spent an inordinate amount of time keeping track of all of the expenses from the different pots of money (and then trying to get my university to actually give me the money...). Unfortunately, I'm not quite finished. I sent out a grant last week that will cover almost everything, but even if I get that I'll need a little bit more, and if I don't get that I'm not sure what I'll do.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Reader question: An ecologist's education, so far?
Today I received a great email from a reader, Sarah:
As far as education goes, here's a brief story of how I got to where I am now. I graduated from high school and went to college where I earned a Bachelor's degree in Biology (that took 4 years). I contemplated graduate school, but was not ready to apply because I wanted to gain more work experience in research or education and use that time to reflect on whether or not I really wanted to go to grad school, and if so, for what. Grad school, in any field, is not something you should do because you don't know what else to do. After graduating from college I spent a few years working, traveling, and thinking about whether or not to go back to school (I read a lot about grad school during that time). Did I really want to do research? If so, what would I study? I decided that I wanted to go to grad school so that I could teach biology and do research at the college level, and for that you need a Ph.D. In ecology it is relatively common for people to skip a Masters degree if they have enough research/work experience when they apply, either from their undergraduate education or experiences after that.
I spent hours upon hours researching different graduate programs in ecology (chronicled here, here, and here). I applied during the 2006-07 academic year and began grad school in fall 2007. Now I'm two and a half years into my program. I have completed all of the necessary coursework, identified a research topic, and collected some preliminary data. I organized a committee of scientists (ecogeofemme has been writing about this process recently) who advise me and approved my research topic in my preliminary exam (aka prelims). I expect that it will take me three and a half more years to finish my data collection, analyze it, and write my dissertation. Six years to complete a Ph.D. in ecology is very normal in the U.S. When I finish my Ph.D., I'm not sure exactly what I'll do, but it is likely that I will spend a few more years 'in training' as a post-doctoral fellow (aka post doc).
Pros and cons of being an ecologist? For me I think it's mostly pros. I wrote a post in 2008 that covers many of them. I loved my biology classes in college and I had great professors. Cons? Most ecologists don't have enormous earning potential compared to other fields requiring similar or fewer years of education, but this is only a problem if for some reason your life plans involve needing to be very wealthy.
My advice to Sarah and other young aspiring ecologists is to learn how to learn in whatever classes you take. Figure out how you learn math most effectively. Learn how to find the information you need using search terms and databases. Learn how to understand the science from reading about it. Make connections between different classes and subjects. Learn how to write well. Those skills will help you succeed in whatever you decide to do. As far as helping you decide what to do with your life, don't stress about it too much now, but do ask people who have interesting jobs how they got there. At the very least, you're bound to get some interesting stories that might help inform your choices down the road.
...I was wondering if you'd be willing to answer some questions about your schooling and what you do concerning ecology. I'm a junior in high school and I'd like to be an ecologist like yourself someday.I of course replied yes, so she wrote back with questions:
Okay so my first question is just to clear things up for me. You have a PHD but you're still in grad school? How did you get to your current level of education and how long did it take? (ex. went to a 4-year college for bachelors, then back for masters, and PHD... etc.) and another question is what are some pros and cons to ecology? (Just in general, could be about learning about ecology in college or your research.)First things first. I don't have my Ph.D. yet, but I am working on it. Technically I am a Ph.D. candidate because I have passed my preliminary exams. Being a Ph.D. candidate is kind of like being a presidential candidate- you're in the running but haven't earned the title yet. A Ph.D. candidate describes more specifically the type of graduate student that I am (a graduate student can be anyone pursing a Masters or Ph.D.). When I finish my Ph.D., then I can be called Karina Anirak, Ph.D., or Dr. Karina Anirak.
As far as education goes, here's a brief story of how I got to where I am now. I graduated from high school and went to college where I earned a Bachelor's degree in Biology (that took 4 years). I contemplated graduate school, but was not ready to apply because I wanted to gain more work experience in research or education and use that time to reflect on whether or not I really wanted to go to grad school, and if so, for what. Grad school, in any field, is not something you should do because you don't know what else to do. After graduating from college I spent a few years working, traveling, and thinking about whether or not to go back to school (I read a lot about grad school during that time). Did I really want to do research? If so, what would I study? I decided that I wanted to go to grad school so that I could teach biology and do research at the college level, and for that you need a Ph.D. In ecology it is relatively common for people to skip a Masters degree if they have enough research/work experience when they apply, either from their undergraduate education or experiences after that.
I spent hours upon hours researching different graduate programs in ecology (chronicled here, here, and here). I applied during the 2006-07 academic year and began grad school in fall 2007. Now I'm two and a half years into my program. I have completed all of the necessary coursework, identified a research topic, and collected some preliminary data. I organized a committee of scientists (ecogeofemme has been writing about this process recently) who advise me and approved my research topic in my preliminary exam (aka prelims). I expect that it will take me three and a half more years to finish my data collection, analyze it, and write my dissertation. Six years to complete a Ph.D. in ecology is very normal in the U.S. When I finish my Ph.D., I'm not sure exactly what I'll do, but it is likely that I will spend a few more years 'in training' as a post-doctoral fellow (aka post doc).
Pros and cons of being an ecologist? For me I think it's mostly pros. I wrote a post in 2008 that covers many of them. I loved my biology classes in college and I had great professors. Cons? Most ecologists don't have enormous earning potential compared to other fields requiring similar or fewer years of education, but this is only a problem if for some reason your life plans involve needing to be very wealthy.
My advice to Sarah and other young aspiring ecologists is to learn how to learn in whatever classes you take. Figure out how you learn math most effectively. Learn how to find the information you need using search terms and databases. Learn how to understand the science from reading about it. Make connections between different classes and subjects. Learn how to write well. Those skills will help you succeed in whatever you decide to do. As far as helping you decide what to do with your life, don't stress about it too much now, but do ask people who have interesting jobs how they got there. At the very least, you're bound to get some interesting stories that might help inform your choices down the road.
Friday, October 2, 2009
The road I'm taking
When I applied to grad school, my goal was to find an advisor with whom I could do research in Africa. I ended up with a co-advisor situation with one advisor who worked in Africa and one advisor who asked the kinds of questions I was interested in answering. Now I have a committee member who is immensely helpful in the logistics of my research (and in some ways feels more like my advisor). Still, I have no expectations that any of them will visit my field site during my research. I also know that none of them have any funding to support my research, so it's up to me to get grants.
My main advisor, Herb, has had many highly independent Ph.D. students who have done projects in distant locations. In that respect I am like them. However, he pointed out to me that in every other case, the distant locations were actually "home" to those students. They were pursuing their own projects in challenging and remote locations, but they were always somewhat familiar with the language, culture, and area. I certainly didn't choose an easy path, and I probably underestimated just how hard it would be.
I have chosen a muddy road riddled with potholes and I've got to navigate it mostly by myself with a map written in a different language. It will probably take me 6 years or more to navigate this road. Some sections will be painfully slow, I'll have to pass by some places more than once, I'll make some decisions when the road forks, and maybe I'll find a few smooth sections. I have no idea where I'll end up at the end of my Ph.D., but the decisions I make along the way will lead me there. I just hope I'll be better and more confident at navigating my research road.
My main advisor, Herb, has had many highly independent Ph.D. students who have done projects in distant locations. In that respect I am like them. However, he pointed out to me that in every other case, the distant locations were actually "home" to those students. They were pursuing their own projects in challenging and remote locations, but they were always somewhat familiar with the language, culture, and area. I certainly didn't choose an easy path, and I probably underestimated just how hard it would be.
I have chosen a muddy road riddled with potholes and I've got to navigate it mostly by myself with a map written in a different language. It will probably take me 6 years or more to navigate this road. Some sections will be painfully slow, I'll have to pass by some places more than once, I'll make some decisions when the road forks, and maybe I'll find a few smooth sections. I have no idea where I'll end up at the end of my Ph.D., but the decisions I make along the way will lead me there. I just hope I'll be better and more confident at navigating my research road.
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Recommended reading for applying to grad school
I took time off between my Bachelor's degree and applying to grad school, and I used that time to explore a) if I really truly wanted or needed to go, and b) what the heck I might want to study. This post is intended to help people with the first part more than the second. I read a lot about what to expect (or not expect) from grad school.
I'll start with the resources that are directed at graduate school in science as a whole.
A broadly applicable (for Ph.D. programs) piece of advice was written by Phil Agre, Advice for Undergraduates Considering Grad School. It walks you through generally what grad school is, research, and the application process. This guy seems to have written several interesting pieces of advice for a variety of fields.
Physicist Steven Weinburg wrote a piece published in Nature called Four Golden Lessons, and it can be found here with a response from John A. Duley.
Then there are books. In my first year of grad school I had to take an ethics class that required us to buy Getting What You Came For: The Smart Student's Guide to Earning a M.A. or Ph.D. I was initially put off by the title, but I read most of this book and will keep it to refer back to occasionally. It gives a great overview of things to consider when deciding to apply, how to decide between Masters/Ph.D. and their differences, and financial issues. The introduction is admittedly pretty bleak, but you should read it. It will discourage you from going to grad school because you feel like the extra letters alone will get you a job (it won't) or because you don't know what else to do with your life.
I also read The Ph.D. Process: A Student's Guide to Graduate School in the Sciences before I decided to apply to know what to expect during the different stages of grad school. This book focuses only on Ph.D. programs unlike the first book which also addresses masters programs. There are quotes from grad students in different fields throughout the book. People who are unsure what grad student life is like may especially want to read the Life of a Graduate Student chapter.
I recommend checking out either or both of these books from a library if you're not sure at all what to expect from grad school and just beginning to explore your options. If you find them useful and you decide to go to grad school, try to get yourself a used copy.
Next there are resources aimed at biology students, such as On Graduate Studies in Biology by Kurt Reinhart (pdf). Page 6 has an especially useful "checklist for picking the right advisor" which has a list of questions you may want to ask. I have this file highlighted yellow in the Finder to remind me to revisit it occasionally, as it has advice applicable to the duration of graduate study.
The next two pieces should be read together as they both came out of the graduate program in Zoology at Berkeley. They are relatively general in their advice and would probably be of interest to people who don't have ecology/evolution/behavior aspirations. First read Some Modest Advice for Graduate Students by Stephen Sterns, then read Reply to Sterns (both available as pdfs here).
Finally, there is a slim little volume called How to Do Ecology that is, as the title suggests, aimed at a specific audience. An even better title for it would be How to Become an Ecologist, since it talks you through the grad school process. If your idea of being an ecologist involves spending hours, days, or weeks on end alone with the wilderness, read the chapters on Working with Other People and Communicating What You Find to see how most ecologists have to deal with the social/communication aspects of their career. The three-page conclusion summarizes the most important unwritten rules of ecology as elucidated by the authors.
What resources would you recommend? If there's interest, I might write longer reviews of the books. Happy searching!
I'll start with the resources that are directed at graduate school in science as a whole.
A broadly applicable (for Ph.D. programs) piece of advice was written by Phil Agre, Advice for Undergraduates Considering Grad School. It walks you through generally what grad school is, research, and the application process. This guy seems to have written several interesting pieces of advice for a variety of fields.
Physicist Steven Weinburg wrote a piece published in Nature called Four Golden Lessons, and it can be found here with a response from John A. Duley.
Then there are books. In my first year of grad school I had to take an ethics class that required us to buy Getting What You Came For: The Smart Student's Guide to Earning a M.A. or Ph.D. I was initially put off by the title, but I read most of this book and will keep it to refer back to occasionally. It gives a great overview of things to consider when deciding to apply, how to decide between Masters/Ph.D. and their differences, and financial issues. The introduction is admittedly pretty bleak, but you should read it. It will discourage you from going to grad school because you feel like the extra letters alone will get you a job (it won't) or because you don't know what else to do with your life.
I also read The Ph.D. Process: A Student's Guide to Graduate School in the Sciences before I decided to apply to know what to expect during the different stages of grad school. This book focuses only on Ph.D. programs unlike the first book which also addresses masters programs. There are quotes from grad students in different fields throughout the book. People who are unsure what grad student life is like may especially want to read the Life of a Graduate Student chapter.
I recommend checking out either or both of these books from a library if you're not sure at all what to expect from grad school and just beginning to explore your options. If you find them useful and you decide to go to grad school, try to get yourself a used copy.
Next there are resources aimed at biology students, such as On Graduate Studies in Biology by Kurt Reinhart (pdf). Page 6 has an especially useful "checklist for picking the right advisor" which has a list of questions you may want to ask. I have this file highlighted yellow in the Finder to remind me to revisit it occasionally, as it has advice applicable to the duration of graduate study.
The next two pieces should be read together as they both came out of the graduate program in Zoology at Berkeley. They are relatively general in their advice and would probably be of interest to people who don't have ecology/evolution/behavior aspirations. First read Some Modest Advice for Graduate Students by Stephen Sterns, then read Reply to Sterns (both available as pdfs here).
Finally, there is a slim little volume called How to Do Ecology that is, as the title suggests, aimed at a specific audience. An even better title for it would be How to Become an Ecologist, since it talks you through the grad school process. If your idea of being an ecologist involves spending hours, days, or weeks on end alone with the wilderness, read the chapters on Working with Other People and Communicating What You Find to see how most ecologists have to deal with the social/communication aspects of their career. The three-page conclusion summarizes the most important unwritten rules of ecology as elucidated by the authors.
What resources would you recommend? If there's interest, I might write longer reviews of the books. Happy searching!
Thursday, March 6, 2008
The importance of a good web page
One of my assignments this semester is to make a web page for myself. I think that all graduate students should have to do this. When I was searching for prospective departments and advisors, I did most (if not all) of my research based on web pages. I found it frustrating when a professor had a lab full of students but no links to student web pages. Grad student web pages are extremely useful for prospective students to find out who is in the department, what they're doing, and who they're working with. From the grad student perspective, it's a great way to put your interests "out there" even before you get published in your field. I mean, think about how long it can take from the time you conceptualize and design your project to the time you present or publish it? Having a web page (especially linked to your advisor) is a great way to advertise your existence in the field.
I'm looking forward to making my own web page. I haven't really ever had one (blogs definitely don't count), but I did maintain a site for a student organization while I was at SFC. I learned quite a bit from that experience about the process of using templates and organizing material within pages, but this time I'm starting from scratch. It's fun. I'm keeping my eyes out for grad student web pages that I really like. Here's an example of one that I think is attractive, classy, well-organized, and informative.
One of the biggest pitfalls in personal web pages seems to be their maintenance. I hope that I won't ever let mine get years out of date because it looks so careless to see something that says "Coming in spring 2006" nowadays. I learned from the web page work I did in college that it's important to use dates rather than referring only to seasons to reduce maintenance and keep information up to date (i.e. say, "I began graduate school in fall 2007" rather than "I started grad school last fall"). I know how easy it can be to let something like updating your web page get put permanently on the back burner, but your web page makes an impression. Why not make it a good one?
I'm looking forward to making my own web page. I haven't really ever had one (blogs definitely don't count), but I did maintain a site for a student organization while I was at SFC. I learned quite a bit from that experience about the process of using templates and organizing material within pages, but this time I'm starting from scratch. It's fun. I'm keeping my eyes out for grad student web pages that I really like. Here's an example of one that I think is attractive, classy, well-organized, and informative.
One of the biggest pitfalls in personal web pages seems to be their maintenance. I hope that I won't ever let mine get years out of date because it looks so careless to see something that says "Coming in spring 2006" nowadays. I learned from the web page work I did in college that it's important to use dates rather than referring only to seasons to reduce maintenance and keep information up to date (i.e. say, "I began graduate school in fall 2007" rather than "I started grad school last fall"). I know how easy it can be to let something like updating your web page get put permanently on the back burner, but your web page makes an impression. Why not make it a good one?
Saturday, March 1, 2008
Working in bed
I really like working in bed with my laptop. I discovered this while I was applying to grad school while we were traveling in RFC last year. I like spending a few (or several, as today) hours after I wake up in the morning working in bed. I woke up around 9 am this morning and finished my grant around 2 pm, then I made pancakes and got back in bed to eat them while posting to my blog. This grant took longer than I thought it would to finish today (my goal was noon), partly because I had to scramble to find a few more sources that I thought I had already nailed down. I think I found a better way to remotely access UBC's electronic library, which reminds me of something I've wanted to mention for a while.
It can be really difficult to apply to graduate school without remote access to a university's electronic library. If you are taking time off before undgrad and grad school (which I highly recommend), don't be afraid to use your friends in academia to get you articles that you would otherwise not have access to. Also, figure out how to remotely access your school's electronic database because you might have access for a while after you graduate. I just discovered in 2007 that I still have access via Small Friendly College. In fact, SFC has access to a journal I regularly use that UBC does not (why not? I have no idea) so I frequently take advantage of that connection.
In other news, I have so much work to do this weekend :-( I have 60 lab reports and problem sets to grade (I haven't started tackling them like I did last time), an essay to write for Herb, articles to read, and I should start on my comprehensive research plan for my Ph.D. (yeah, right). Jon has been at work all day today so I had lots of quiet time to finish that grant, but I don't think I'll do much more school work today. When I'm finished with this post I'm going to get up, get dressed, do a load of laundry, clean the kitchen, start the bread machine, and get ready for our friends to come over for dinner tonight. Ready, set, get out of bed!
It can be really difficult to apply to graduate school without remote access to a university's electronic library. If you are taking time off before undgrad and grad school (which I highly recommend), don't be afraid to use your friends in academia to get you articles that you would otherwise not have access to. Also, figure out how to remotely access your school's electronic database because you might have access for a while after you graduate. I just discovered in 2007 that I still have access via Small Friendly College. In fact, SFC has access to a journal I regularly use that UBC does not (why not? I have no idea) so I frequently take advantage of that connection.
In other news, I have so much work to do this weekend :-( I have 60 lab reports and problem sets to grade (I haven't started tackling them like I did last time), an essay to write for Herb, articles to read, and I should start on my comprehensive research plan for my Ph.D. (yeah, right). Jon has been at work all day today so I had lots of quiet time to finish that grant, but I don't think I'll do much more school work today. When I'm finished with this post I'm going to get up, get dressed, do a load of laundry, clean the kitchen, start the bread machine, and get ready for our friends to come over for dinner tonight. Ready, set, get out of bed!
Monday, December 31, 2007
2007 in review
2007 was a big year because so many different things happened, all good. I started 2007 with Jon in Remote Foreign Country. While we were there I was accepted to University of Big City. We returned to the US in May, both excited to come home and reluctant to leave RFC where we had made so many new friends. There was a lot for me to look forward to in the US with my summer plans and beginning graduate school.
Jon and I spent some time geographically separated catching up with our families when we got back. I did a workshop in the southwest and then spent the rest of my summer at a field station going to EcoMath Camp. Since I took a few years off between undergrad and graduate school, this program did a great job of getting me back into school mode. Can you believe I showed up to class on the first day without a notebook?!?! It hadn't crossed my mind to bring a notebook! I didn't even pack one! Thankfully, the professors and other students in this program were excellent and I had a fantastic summer. I learned a tremendous amount about theoretical ecology and it gave me more confidence going into my graduate program.
Moving to Big City was exciting. We looked at 16 or 17 apartments in 3 days and snagged a great one very close to University of Big City (thank you craigslist). In the midst of apartment hunting and moving we spent a weekend with several of our friends from Small Friendly College which is always awesome. I met Herb for the first time and reintroduced myself to Leo in person. I think my first impressions of graduate school have held true.
Overall I had a great first semester. Aside from Ethics class, I loved my classes (Population Ecology and a required class) and I had a good time teaching (a fair amount of frustration too). The hardest part about this semester was money. It took Jon a while to find a job and I only get paid once a month. The moving expenses were really the worst. Hopefully things will be easier in 2008.
I have no doubt I am in the right place at this point in my life. I felt the same way after my first semester at SFC even though things didn't work out immediately. This was the right time for me to go back to school and I feel well prepared by SFC, my experiences at Mid-Atlantic Field Station and RFC. I look forward to 2008 and I'll post soon about that.
Jon and I spent some time geographically separated catching up with our families when we got back. I did a workshop in the southwest and then spent the rest of my summer at a field station going to EcoMath Camp. Since I took a few years off between undergrad and graduate school, this program did a great job of getting me back into school mode. Can you believe I showed up to class on the first day without a notebook?!?! It hadn't crossed my mind to bring a notebook! I didn't even pack one! Thankfully, the professors and other students in this program were excellent and I had a fantastic summer. I learned a tremendous amount about theoretical ecology and it gave me more confidence going into my graduate program.
Moving to Big City was exciting. We looked at 16 or 17 apartments in 3 days and snagged a great one very close to University of Big City (thank you craigslist). In the midst of apartment hunting and moving we spent a weekend with several of our friends from Small Friendly College which is always awesome. I met Herb for the first time and reintroduced myself to Leo in person. I think my first impressions of graduate school have held true.
Overall I had a great first semester. Aside from Ethics class, I loved my classes (Population Ecology and a required class) and I had a good time teaching (a fair amount of frustration too). The hardest part about this semester was money. It took Jon a while to find a job and I only get paid once a month. The moving expenses were really the worst. Hopefully things will be easier in 2008.
I have no doubt I am in the right place at this point in my life. I felt the same way after my first semester at SFC even though things didn't work out immediately. This was the right time for me to go back to school and I feel well prepared by SFC, my experiences at Mid-Atlantic Field Station and RFC. I look forward to 2008 and I'll post soon about that.
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
What (not) to write to potential graduate advisors
Female Science Professor did a great post today with generic samples of emails she receives from interested prospective graduate students. If you are interested in going to grad school, don't write emails that fall in the first two categories. It might take you a really long time to go through and read about someone's research and write them a thoughtful email, but that's really what they're looking for. If you are estimating how much time it will take you to research and make inquiries about grad school, you should double or triple that amount of time and it will be closer to accurate. It felt like a significant part-time job for me for about 2 months, and that was even before I really started doing the applications.
Sunday, July 1, 2007
My Application Experience: Phase 3
The Waiting
Ideally I'd refer to this phase as Visiting, but unfortunately I couldn't do that. I was still in Remote Foreign Country and I didn't have enough money to fly myself back to the U.S. to visit. Most unfortunately, neither did the schools I applied to. I spent quite a while online searching for airfares and planning possible itineraries that would allow me to visit 6 schools all over the U.S. in the span of 3 weeks and return to RFC. Amazingly (I think), it could have been done for under $2000. If I'd been able to get $300-400 for travel expenses from each school I could have visited.
Based on whatever numerical parameters they use to rank applicants, I didn't make it high enough to the top of the lists to get invited with financial assistance. Unrealistic though it was, I really held out hope that somehow I'd be able to visit the schools. I started getting desperate and wrote to a pizza company and told them I'd endorse their food if they flew me back to Big City. That was really a shot in the dark.
I had some phone interviews but I really got the feeling that my application was not as strongly considered because I couldn't visit. I started preparing myself for the possibility that I might not be accepted to grad school.
My first notification came in late February during an otherwise awful week of traveling. I was accepted with TA support to U of Big City. What a relief to be accepted somewhere!
All of the letters that followed came with worse news. Some of them sent emails, some sent paper letters which my parents received and had to break the bad news to me over the phone. I wasn't surprised when I didn't get into UC Someplace since I knew it was a long shot, but I was pretty upset when I wasn't accepted at U of Midwestern State. I wrote to the professors from both places and received encouraging emails that said in short, "Your application was really good but I had so many applicants to my lab this year and I could only take one. The student I've accepted is one I've known for 3 years OR has a perfect academic record." I think a bit was lost in the paraphrasing but they seemed sincere and wished me luck. The professor at U of Someplace South told me he probably wasn't accepting anyone new in his lab next year when I inquired about the status of my application.
U of East Coast State professor told me I wasn't on the "must-admit" list so I shouldn't count on it. I didn't get an official letter of rejection from them until late MAY. Why bother at that point? Students have to make their decisions by mid-April. U of New England State professor was the worst correspondent. I hadn't heard yea or nay from him or the school and April 15 was near. Finally he said the department was only taking 4 students as TAs that year and I wasn't at the top of the list so I should just accept at U of Big City.
I wish that early in the application process someone had emphasized to me that I really might not be accepted anywhere. Applying to grad school seems to involve a bit of chance (like not applying to the same lab in the same year as Ms./Mr. Perfect Scores on Everything). Thankfully, U of Big City was my first choice since it seems like I'll have the best chance of pursuing my specific research interests there. I think I was accepted there because I had exceptionally lengthy correspondence with my future advisor and co-advisor. They both seemed to like writing emails a lot more than many of the other professors with whom I corresponded.
I guess the reason I'm writing this, and this blog in general, is to give others insight into applying to graduate school in ecology through my personal experience. And speaking from experience, try to apply while you're in U.S. or at least get back in time to visit. But if you can't do that, you might still get accepted and hopefully things will work out and you won't have a nightmare advior.
I suppose now I should come up with pseudonyms for my advisors. Hmmm...
Ideally I'd refer to this phase as Visiting, but unfortunately I couldn't do that. I was still in Remote Foreign Country and I didn't have enough money to fly myself back to the U.S. to visit. Most unfortunately, neither did the schools I applied to. I spent quite a while online searching for airfares and planning possible itineraries that would allow me to visit 6 schools all over the U.S. in the span of 3 weeks and return to RFC. Amazingly (I think), it could have been done for under $2000. If I'd been able to get $300-400 for travel expenses from each school I could have visited.
Based on whatever numerical parameters they use to rank applicants, I didn't make it high enough to the top of the lists to get invited with financial assistance. Unrealistic though it was, I really held out hope that somehow I'd be able to visit the schools. I started getting desperate and wrote to a pizza company and told them I'd endorse their food if they flew me back to Big City. That was really a shot in the dark.
I had some phone interviews but I really got the feeling that my application was not as strongly considered because I couldn't visit. I started preparing myself for the possibility that I might not be accepted to grad school.
My first notification came in late February during an otherwise awful week of traveling. I was accepted with TA support to U of Big City. What a relief to be accepted somewhere!
All of the letters that followed came with worse news. Some of them sent emails, some sent paper letters which my parents received and had to break the bad news to me over the phone. I wasn't surprised when I didn't get into UC Someplace since I knew it was a long shot, but I was pretty upset when I wasn't accepted at U of Midwestern State. I wrote to the professors from both places and received encouraging emails that said in short, "Your application was really good but I had so many applicants to my lab this year and I could only take one. The student I've accepted is one I've known for 3 years OR has a perfect academic record." I think a bit was lost in the paraphrasing but they seemed sincere and wished me luck. The professor at U of Someplace South told me he probably wasn't accepting anyone new in his lab next year when I inquired about the status of my application.
U of East Coast State professor told me I wasn't on the "must-admit" list so I shouldn't count on it. I didn't get an official letter of rejection from them until late MAY. Why bother at that point? Students have to make their decisions by mid-April. U of New England State professor was the worst correspondent. I hadn't heard yea or nay from him or the school and April 15 was near. Finally he said the department was only taking 4 students as TAs that year and I wasn't at the top of the list so I should just accept at U of Big City.
I wish that early in the application process someone had emphasized to me that I really might not be accepted anywhere. Applying to grad school seems to involve a bit of chance (like not applying to the same lab in the same year as Ms./Mr. Perfect Scores on Everything). Thankfully, U of Big City was my first choice since it seems like I'll have the best chance of pursuing my specific research interests there. I think I was accepted there because I had exceptionally lengthy correspondence with my future advisor and co-advisor. They both seemed to like writing emails a lot more than many of the other professors with whom I corresponded.
I guess the reason I'm writing this, and this blog in general, is to give others insight into applying to graduate school in ecology through my personal experience. And speaking from experience, try to apply while you're in U.S. or at least get back in time to visit. But if you can't do that, you might still get accepted and hopefully things will work out and you won't have a nightmare advior.
I suppose now I should come up with pseudonyms for my advisors. Hmmm...
Sunday, June 24, 2007
My Application Experience: Phase 2
The Applications
Once I had a short list of places to apply I just had to fill out the applications and send the appropriate materials. I was very organized about the whole process and made a spreadsheet with the specific requirements and deadlines for each university, department, etc. This part of the process would have been really straightforward except that I was in Remote Foreign Country (RFC) connecting to the internet with dial-up.
Did I mention yet that I hate dial-up?
All of the schools I applied to now had online applications. I was happy about that since it meant I didn't have to print applications and send them across the world. However, the online applications presented their own problems. First of all, some of them were just really poorly designed. They were redundant, took unnecessarily long to load, lacked enough character space in text boxes for the requested information (i.e. listing publications you have authored), and even had typos. The worst was the online application for U of Midwestern State. I just couldn't get this application to load. I could sign in but I couldn't see anything else. When I contacted their help center, they said their application didn't work because I was on dial-up. Their solution: go find a faster internet connection. Do they really think I'd be using dial-up if I had another option? To the institution's credit, the department graduate application coordinator said I could turn in the now-obsolete paper application and they would extend the deadline for me considering my circumstances. In the end it was easier for me to talk to my mom on the phone while she read me the questions and I told her what to type.
I simply could not have applied to graduate school without my mom. She signed my name on everything that needed my signature (our handwriting is remarkably similar): GRE score reports, transcript requests, etc. She also mailed and faxed anything that needed a hard copy. For example, I sent her a pdf of the GRE score report form and each time I needed a scoresheet sent I would email her all of the information to fill out on the form and she'd sign my name and fax it in. Or I'd send her a Word document that just needed to be printed, signed, and mailed.
I contacted my three letter of recommendation writers at least two months before the first application was due and when I had a list of the schools I was applying to I sent them a spreadsheet to keep track of the due dates, format, and when they completed them. If they hadn't filled in the "date sent" cell yet then the whole line was highlighted red. I thought this was pretty clever :-)
I managed to get all of my application pieces in my the deadlines for the 6 schools, with the exception of payment for one school because while their online application was ok, their payment system was not. I emailed them right away to say I didn't think my payment went through and they wrote back asking me to EMAIL my credit card information to them! I did this reluctantly and didn't hear from them again so I assumed this worked. Nope. For some reason they decided a snail mail letter sent to me on the other side of the world in RFC, rather than email, was the best way to notify me that my application fee had not been paid. Thankfully I was finally able to call and clear up this mess.
Each school seems able to make up their own conditions for application fee waivers. I only qualified for a fee waiver at one school, University of California Someplace. The rest of the schools did their fee waiver system based on whether or not I had received a GRE fee waiver, which is dependent on you being a current student. UC Someplace had me fill out FAFSA.
Once my applications were submitted I notified the people from those schools who I wanted to work with so they would know to keep an eye out for my application. Then I just had to wait awhile.
Once I had a short list of places to apply I just had to fill out the applications and send the appropriate materials. I was very organized about the whole process and made a spreadsheet with the specific requirements and deadlines for each university, department, etc. This part of the process would have been really straightforward except that I was in Remote Foreign Country (RFC) connecting to the internet with dial-up.
Did I mention yet that I hate dial-up?
All of the schools I applied to now had online applications. I was happy about that since it meant I didn't have to print applications and send them across the world. However, the online applications presented their own problems. First of all, some of them were just really poorly designed. They were redundant, took unnecessarily long to load, lacked enough character space in text boxes for the requested information (i.e. listing publications you have authored), and even had typos. The worst was the online application for U of Midwestern State. I just couldn't get this application to load. I could sign in but I couldn't see anything else. When I contacted their help center, they said their application didn't work because I was on dial-up. Their solution: go find a faster internet connection. Do they really think I'd be using dial-up if I had another option? To the institution's credit, the department graduate application coordinator said I could turn in the now-obsolete paper application and they would extend the deadline for me considering my circumstances. In the end it was easier for me to talk to my mom on the phone while she read me the questions and I told her what to type.
I simply could not have applied to graduate school without my mom. She signed my name on everything that needed my signature (our handwriting is remarkably similar): GRE score reports, transcript requests, etc. She also mailed and faxed anything that needed a hard copy. For example, I sent her a pdf of the GRE score report form and each time I needed a scoresheet sent I would email her all of the information to fill out on the form and she'd sign my name and fax it in. Or I'd send her a Word document that just needed to be printed, signed, and mailed.
I contacted my three letter of recommendation writers at least two months before the first application was due and when I had a list of the schools I was applying to I sent them a spreadsheet to keep track of the due dates, format, and when they completed them. If they hadn't filled in the "date sent" cell yet then the whole line was highlighted red. I thought this was pretty clever :-)
I managed to get all of my application pieces in my the deadlines for the 6 schools, with the exception of payment for one school because while their online application was ok, their payment system was not. I emailed them right away to say I didn't think my payment went through and they wrote back asking me to EMAIL my credit card information to them! I did this reluctantly and didn't hear from them again so I assumed this worked. Nope. For some reason they decided a snail mail letter sent to me on the other side of the world in RFC, rather than email, was the best way to notify me that my application fee had not been paid. Thankfully I was finally able to call and clear up this mess.
Each school seems able to make up their own conditions for application fee waivers. I only qualified for a fee waiver at one school, University of California Someplace. The rest of the schools did their fee waiver system based on whether or not I had received a GRE fee waiver, which is dependent on you being a current student. UC Someplace had me fill out FAFSA.
Once my applications were submitted I notified the people from those schools who I wanted to work with so they would know to keep an eye out for my application. Then I just had to wait awhile.
Friday, June 22, 2007
My Application Experience: Phase 1
Last summer I quit my job and took off for a distant corner of the world for several months. I fully intended to complete my graduate school applications before packing away everything I own and leaving the country. In spite of my good intentions that didn't happen.
This left me in the less than ideal position of doing the entire application process from abroad. I had some ideas of people I wanted to work with and schools I wanted to apply to, but I hadn't really corresponded with anyone yet. I spent hours on snail-paced internet connections reading about professors' research, graduate programs, and application deadlines and procedures. I agonized over the emails of interest that I sent to people I was interested in working with. I tried desperately to read most of the papers they'd written (as much as I could without academic associations) and comment on them in my initial emails.
I greatly underestimated the amount of time and energy I would have to put into this first "contact" phase of the application process. I literally spent weeks contacting people. One of the first people I contacted was from Large Attractive City. Her response was enthusiastic and encouraging, except for that part about how she just took a new position at Middle of Nowhere University. My partner said we'd have to break up if I went to grad school there.
Some people never responded to my emails. I know you're busy people, but c'mon. Too busy to type a sentence? Send a form email of non-interest? I hope I'm never like that.
There was one person whose research I was really interested in who just didn't reply. I assumed he was a busy person and didn't take his non-reply personally and decided to just keep trying. I think I sent him 5+ emails over 3 months before he finally wrote back and told me to apply to his lab.
By November 2006 I'd decided to apply to 6 schools in various parts of the country: UC Somewhere, U of Someplace South, U of Midwestern State, U of New England State, U of East Coast State, and U of Big City. The people whose labs I decided to apply to were the ones who wrote back and encouraged my application. In the case of UC Somewhere I knew it was kind of a long shot (over 100 people applied to his lab) but I decided I didn't have much to lose since I could get an application fee waiver (the UC school was the only fee I got waived).
Unless I'm remembering things incorrectly already, once I had a list of schools I was applying to the process seemed to get easier in one sense. What I had to do and who I had to contact was much more straightforward. I had to follow the application instructions and get everything sent to the right place by the right time.
Piece of cake, right?
This left me in the less than ideal position of doing the entire application process from abroad. I had some ideas of people I wanted to work with and schools I wanted to apply to, but I hadn't really corresponded with anyone yet. I spent hours on snail-paced internet connections reading about professors' research, graduate programs, and application deadlines and procedures. I agonized over the emails of interest that I sent to people I was interested in working with. I tried desperately to read most of the papers they'd written (as much as I could without academic associations) and comment on them in my initial emails.
I greatly underestimated the amount of time and energy I would have to put into this first "contact" phase of the application process. I literally spent weeks contacting people. One of the first people I contacted was from Large Attractive City. Her response was enthusiastic and encouraging, except for that part about how she just took a new position at Middle of Nowhere University. My partner said we'd have to break up if I went to grad school there.
Some people never responded to my emails. I know you're busy people, but c'mon. Too busy to type a sentence? Send a form email of non-interest? I hope I'm never like that.
There was one person whose research I was really interested in who just didn't reply. I assumed he was a busy person and didn't take his non-reply personally and decided to just keep trying. I think I sent him 5+ emails over 3 months before he finally wrote back and told me to apply to his lab.
By November 2006 I'd decided to apply to 6 schools in various parts of the country: UC Somewhere, U of Someplace South, U of Midwestern State, U of New England State, U of East Coast State, and U of Big City. The people whose labs I decided to apply to were the ones who wrote back and encouraged my application. In the case of UC Somewhere I knew it was kind of a long shot (over 100 people applied to his lab) but I decided I didn't have much to lose since I could get an application fee waiver (the UC school was the only fee I got waived).
Unless I'm remembering things incorrectly already, once I had a list of schools I was applying to the process seemed to get easier in one sense. What I had to do and who I had to contact was much more straightforward. I had to follow the application instructions and get everything sent to the right place by the right time.
Piece of cake, right?
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