• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

my graduate school thread!

Brad Barker

Brad Barker

Apr 13, 2001
7,141
13
41
berkeley, ca
#1
long time in the making, this one. as promised, i'll keep TB (and its few interested members!) up to date on my admissions status, final decision, and everything in between.

first of all, a few words concerning my strategy:

i've had my eyes on grad school admission since before setting foot on campus as an undergrad at UF. i was really bad with my applications for undergraduate, so i vowed to avoid repeating my mistakes by coming up with a well-researched plan of attack, etc. i made lists of schools based on their strengths in research and their average GRE physics scores, etc. etc.

then i got a 1600 on the gre general, and i scrapped all of that planning. :D

after talking it over with my adviser and a few profs, i decided to go "all or nothing," applying to eight out of the top 10 schools in the nation for physics:

berkeley
stanford
uc santa barbara
u illinois urbana-champaign
u chicago
MIT
harvard
cornell


this period of time seems to be more of a celebration of my accomplishments moreso than just receiving evaluations from faculty members who haven't met me yet, so it's pretty important to me.



without further ado, i announce that i've been ACCEPTED into uiuc as a condensed matter theory student. on top of that i was offered a fellowship, which means that they thought especially highly of me.

according to the surveys from us news and world report, uiuc is the top-ranked condensed matter theory program in the country, so even if it is the first and last school to accept me, i'll be in a good situation for the next five or six years.


i expect to hear back from some more schools as the week progresses.
 
#2
Way to go, Brad! That's awesome news. I'm still compiling my letters of rec and all for doing my MS next year. It doesn't hurt that two of my letters are coming from members of the Board of Directors, though.

Keep my updated on that publication you told me about, too. I actually stopped in for a little while at a CF event tonight. It was the first event put on by my best friend's fiance, who just got a job w/ CFF, and it looks like it was a great success!
 
#5
SoComSurfing said:
Way to go, Brad! That's awesome news. I'm still compiling my letters of rec and all for doing my MS next year. It doesn't hurt that two of my letters are coming from members of the Board of Directors, though.
Click to expand...

whoah, that's cool.

Keep my updated on that publication you told me about, too. I actually stopped in for a little while at a CF event tonight. It was the first event put on by my best friend's fiance, who just got a job w/ CFF, and it looks like it was a great success!
Click to expand...

hope you're the patient type. it's all nebulous, as far as i know, and there's no timetable, so i figure it's a few years away.
 
#6
That's fantastic news!!!!

I only got one fellowship offer when I was applying to graduate school (in history).








Fortunately, it was from Stanford. :D

There were days I was really glad that I was living in Palo Alto instead of New Haven or Madison. I met my wife (E.E. Ph.D.) there, and it was a wonderful place to be for a few years.

Congratulations again on the fellowship. That's HUGE news.
 
#7
Not that you need it, but good luck. You have more sense than me; when I looked at Ph.D. programs, I only applied to Stanford, Harvard, and Columbia. :rollno: I got lucky.

The fellowship I received was definitely a factor in deciding where to go...not just because of the money (which is nice), but the idea of being somewhere that wants you and has the resources.

M
 
#10
UIUC is a great school. I was accepted there for undergraduate study but ultimately I decided to attend Boston University instead. (Im in the biomedical engineering program). BU has a very strong BME program, and I loved the city.

That being said, UIUC is wonderful. Im also a physics geek ><
 
#14
no action at ALL since hearing from UIUC, and it's definitely not due to a lack of obsession with checking my e-mail.

yesterday i got an email from UF saying that i'm a nominee for "Outstanding Scholar." there's usually one who went to UF for four years and one who transferred to UF from a community college or from another university (or something). the "outstanding scholars" get a page in the graduation book-thing that everyone who attends all of the graduations for spring '08 gets. no money, though. i'll still try to win it because it's been a while since i've won something, and i might even find out the results from THAT before i hear back from, say, berkeley. :rollno:
 
#16
That is great news - mighty perceptive folks at UIUC to make a strong run at you. That is a great start and I hoping that those Cambridge schools will get off of the pot and get back to you before its too late.

PS - would your folks be OK with you going to Cornell or, God forbid, Hahvahd????? ;) :D
 
#17
dangnewt said:
That is great news - mighty perceptive folks at UIUC to make a strong run at you. That is a great start and I hoping that those Cambridge schools will get off of the pot and get back to you before its too late.

PS - would your folks be OK with you going to Cornell or, God forbid, Hahvahd????? ;) :D
Click to expand...

my parents went to dartmouth. did you some how know that? :D

harvard is the one school i will not be surprised at all if i don't get accepted. i'll be very disappointed/confused if i don't get into MIT. my friend, just this minute, IM'ed me and told me that some people (???) have emailed MIT and gotten their results. i'm not sure if i'm willing to rock the boat just yet. on the other hand, i am impatient.


fortunately, unlike major metal, i'm not having any sort of anxiety. i simply can not. :D
 
#18
My Masters diploma just got here yesterday (who wants to got to AZ to walk in the spring? not me.) MAsters in Ed. Curriculum Instruction: Technology. Got it through Grand Canyon University online program. Congrats to you, but I am glad I am DONE!
 
#20
Brad Barker said:
my parents went to dartmouth. did you some how know that? :D

harvard is the one school i will not be surprised at all if i don't get accepted. i'll be very disappointed/confused if i don't get into MIT. my friend, just this minute, IM'ed me and told me that some people (???) have emailed MIT and gotten their results. i'm not sure if i'm willing to rock the boat just yet. on the other hand, i am impatient.


fortunately, unlike major metal, i'm not having any sort of anxiety. i simply can not. :D
Click to expand...

You have mentioned it. It stuck in my mind because your folks have to be among the earliest Dartmouth couples so you are a very special child indeed - clearly destined for great things.

By my year (1982), there were a few more Dartmouth couples but only one from my circle of friends.

Don't worry if you haven't told them, some of my best friends went to Harvard for grad school including one who was the son of a Dartmouth trustee.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back