I thought it was Quanjude, but there was no interview, and the full award offer came

Background:

School: School of Life Sciences, Fudan University

GPA: 3.68/4.0

TOEFL: 105(R29/L27/S23/W26)

GOES: V150+Q170+W3.5

Article: Remote Sensing I, Ecology and Evolution II

Application Result: UCSB PhD (Destination), MSU PhD

At the undergraduate level, I had the idea of studying abroad, and when I was a junior year, I went to Stockholm University in Sweden for a semester exchange, but for various reasons, I finally gave up studying abroad and decided to study abroad. However, during the first year of research, I picked up this idea again and found Shibimeng based on the recommendation of my undergraduate classmates.

Many thanks to the teachers and Sister Mentor (Dr. UC Berkeley) for helping me through the most difficult period of time. They reminded me of the time at various stages and went out of their way to help me revise my resume and PS word for word. In the last period of online application, whether it is day or night, I can reply to my messages in seconds, comforting me and encouraging me when I am anxious to explode. In this article, I would like to review the application process over the past two years and express my gratitude to all those who have helped me.

GPA>：

One of the reasons for giving up studying abroad at the undergraduate level is that you feel that the grade point is not high enough, and you may not be able to get an offer from a good school. There are not many courses at the master's level, and students do not care so much about course performance, so it is easier to get a high score than undergraduate. Because of the impact of the epidemic, the GT offline exam that was originally prepared for the second brush has been canceled, and the entire second year of research has been in the "appointment-cancellation-appointment" death cycle, and finally dragged on until the first semester of the third semester of the third year of research to finally get decent results. After the opening of the offline exam, Shanghai's examination seat was too nervous, and finally made an appointment to the examination room in Hangzhou, and actually got the best results in this examination in Hangzhou, it is difficult to say whether it is because the Shanghai examination room is too rolled.

scientific research:

The most important thing to apply for PhD is scientific research. Thanks to the help of my mentor and brothers and sisters, I completed a one-by-one paper at home retreat during the epidemic, which can be said to be the biggest highlight of my application materials. Originally, I planned to go to MSU for summer research in the summer vacation of research two-three, but because of the epidemic, the summer research that was originally negotiated was turned online. The big guy is busy, I only talk to him once, every week with him to report my scientific research progress by email, reply all depends on fate, sometimes feel that I am in single-machine scientific research. The efficiency of remote scientific research is relatively low, and in the end, I can't get the recommendation letter of the big guy. Although there is no letter of recommendation, I still keep email exchanges with the big guys, at least brush my face. After the article of the second follow-up work was published, I emailed the big guy to tell him the good news and asked him if he could recruit students this year. The big guy replied that I wasn't sure, and recommended that I contact other teachers, which was a double combo. That being said, I also received an offer from MSU in the end, and I don't know if it was the role of this summer study.

School Choice & Magnetics & Interview:

I should have started school selection and magnetism during the summer vacation, but I didn't start this process until the end of August. It can be said that this is the most time-consuming and exciting stage of the entire application process. Especially when looking at top schools, when you see teachers with similar research directions, you can't help but imagine how happy it would be to learn from such teachers. Then write a passionate set of magnetic emails to introduce yourself and express your wishes, and finally ask him/her if he/she will be recruiting this year. The first thing to do every morning during this time is to open the mailbox, which is as happy as opening a blind box. Of course, most teachers do not reply, even if the content of the reply is mostly "no admissions" or "should not enroll, but do not rule out the exception of the admission is particularly excellent." When my family asked, I said bitterly that I had a lot of replies from big guys in my mailbox, although they were all rejected letters.

Of the 7,80 emails sent, 5 teachers replied that they could zoom for further details. Because of the jet lag, the interview time is not early in the morning or late at night, in order not to disturb the roommate's sleep, I am early in the morning lab zoom, and I look a little more professional. Miraculously, the most seriously prepared interview was the first to receive a rejection letter, and the teacher who admitted me was the easiest interview for me. The camera of my laptop suddenly broke down that day, and when I emailed the teacher to explain the situation, I found that she also had an urgent matter to postpone the interview, which was a real coincidence, so I quickly installed the zoom app debugging software on my phone. The call was hectic, and at the end of the video, both people laughed. It was sunny on both sides, the teacher was wearing a vest, I was wearing a sweatshirt, and it wasn't so much an interview as a chat of mutual understanding.

PS&CV&网申：

CV has a prototype when looking for summer research, and it has been revised with the increase of scientific research experience. Thanks to the teachers who were willing to talk to me further, both UM and UW teachers gave my CV a lot of suggestions during the interview, and said that they were willing to help me revise the PS before submitting the online application, afraid that I would not be able to pass the qualification committee. It turned out that I did not get accepted by UM and UW, but I was grateful for the advice and opinions of the two teachers, and the revised resume and paperwork according to their meaning were indeed much better.

Theoretically, I should have started writing PS in September, but procrastination didn't start writing until the end of October. In fact, PS can only write by himself, only he knows his own experience, what shining points can be shown, mentors and trainers can only play an auxiliary role, this process is very painful but can only be carried by themselves. I still remember the mess I wrote in the first draft, the mentor sister said that there was no way to start, the whole framework was not right. When I changed to the third draft, PS looked like that. Thanks to my mentors and trainer sisters at SBIB, they all helped me revise over and over again, and endured my daily bombardment of information in the later stages.

After writing the PS, the workload of the online application stage has been completed by 80%. Personal information is almost the same. Some schools also require statements about fieldwork or other professional skills. The requirements of each school are different, PhD's online application ddl from November 24 to December 15, my PS modification technology has gradually improved in the revision, from completing one school's online application in one day to completing three in one day. After the end of the online application, I was eagerly looking forward to the school sending me an interview notice, but there was no one, and I almost thought that I was going to be full of Jude.

Finally, on the eve of the Lantern Festival, I received an offer from UCSB Geography PhD and ended my application without even an interview. Although it is a little regrettable that I was not able to go to the same school as Miss Mentor, I was able to get together in California.