Graduate School Status

Posted by Nicole Sharp on 07 March 2006 at 20:13

Given all the work and excitement that have gone into my graduate school applications, I feel like I really should have discussed the topic of what I'm doing after Case already, but I suppose that I've been a little too busy living and keeping my head above the water to spend a little extra time on recording them. In any case, I know that there are a few people who read this who won't have heard where I applied and all the news, so I'll share.

I find such things easiest to handle in an unordered list, so that's what you're getting. I'm serious when I say "unordered" here. This isn't some kind of list of ascending or descending preference.

  • Duke University
    • Status: invited to visit, visited (9-11 Feb), no formal acceptance or financial offer yet
    • Thoughts: I enjoyed my visit to Duke a lot. The campus is gorgeous; the people were good; the women's basketball game was absolutely fantastic and really made me nostalgic for the U of A games I used to attend when I grew up in Arkansas. Unfortunately, the research didn't really grab me.
  • University of Virginia
    • Status: invited to visit, visited (23-26 Feb), formally accepted, fellowship offer on the table
    • Thoughts: I wasn't considering UVa all that seriously until I visited. Not only are UVa and Charlottesville great, I fit in very well with both the department members and the other prospective students. The downside is that I still haven't spoken with the professor there who would be my advisor if I matriculate; he was out-of-town when I visited. I'm expecting a call from him this week. I've actually been offered multiple fellowships on top of the department's base graduate student stipend, which is very flattering. The irony here is that I was waitlisted when I applied to UVa as an undergraduate.
  • University of Michigan
    • Status: invited, upcoming visit (16-18 March), formal acceptance, no offer of financial aid yet
    • Thoughts: Michigan's aerospace program is quite highly ranked. In fact, I surprised a lot of people when I turned down their undergraduate program in favor of coming to Case. At the time I felt like Case's program was better suited to what I needed. We'll see if Michigan's program is more like what I need now when I visit next week.
  • Cornell University
    • Status: invited, upcoming visit (9-12 Feb), formal offer of admission and of financial aid
    • Thoughts: Cornell is definitely the most prestigious department to which I applied, and I was absolutely floored when I received my acceptance letter from them. There's a professor there who I'm very interesting in meeting this weekend because I feel like his lab group may be a good match for me. I haven't decided where I'm going yet, but just about everyone else has declared that I'll be going to Cornell. I'm not sure whether the thought delights or terrifies me more.
  • Case Western Reserve University
    • Status: accepted, no financial aid
    • Thoughts: I admit it. Case was my back-up. I also, frankly, couldn't consider it too seriously because the professor I'd be interested in working with is also the one pushing me steadily out the door.
  • University of Notre Dame
    • Status: nothing yet
    • Thoughts: I wish my mailbox weren't consistently so empty.

So that is the current state of affairs in brief. I have to say that it feels really good not only to know for certain that I'll be going to graduate school next year but to know that I have choices about where I'll be going. Spring Break is going to be resarch between a sandwich of graduate school visits, and, with some luck, I may get to squeeze in a chance to see some high school friends. I've got a friend at Cornell and several at Michigan, and, since my family doesn't live in Michigan anymore, this will be my only real chance to see them for an indefinite amount of time.

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  • Graduate School Decisions Posted in Nicole Sharp's Blog on 27 March 2006 at 21:25

    The time has come to give the final run-down on graduate school applications. Here's the list of schools and responses:...

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    Mano Singham said

    On 08 March 2006 at 10:25

    That's nice to hear that the graduate schools are enthusiastic about you. They should be - they are getting a real find! It seems to me that you can't go wrong with any of the options that you already have. That makes making a final choice difficult but not stressful.

    Congratulations! It must be nice to know that the next few years of your life are kind of mapped out.

    I assume you are going for a PhD. Are you interested in an academic career?

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    Got Gravatars?

    Nicole Sharp said

    On 08 March 2006 at 11:05

    Hi Mano!

    That's nice to hear that the graduate schools are enthusiastic about you. They should be - they are getting a real find!

    Thanks, that means a lot! I was really surprised to get the kind of reception that I've gotten so far.

    It's a huge load off my shoulders to know that the next couple of years are pretty well set. I just have to make the big decision as to where to go. It's kind of like four years ago in that respect.

    I am planning to get a PhD. Ideally, I'd like to become a professor at a research university so that I can teach and do research. I've loved the environment for that here at Case for the last four years, and one of the exciting things that I've learned by visiting these other universities is that I can see myself being just as happy with being there, too. That's done a lot to validate my career choice for myself.

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