UT-Knoxville

So..... I did, in fact, get an offer from UT-Knoxville. When I originally applied there it was sort of at the bottom of my list. Since I went up to visit the folks at Earth and Planetary Sciences (EPS) I have really changed my opinion of them quite a bit. For one, the professor that would be my advisor (if I accept the offer) is pretty much the guy as far as Appalachian Structural Geology goes. Also, their department is particularly well funded. I don't think I will have to spend much of my time writing grant proposals.

On the one hand going to UTK would put me in an extremely advantageous position. I would be free to concentrate on my research without the looming threat of losing funding. If I do end up in academia though, it might be good to know how to write grant proposals. Of course, I am sure I will have the opportunity to see how that entire process of getting money for projects works. I may not get any hands on experience though.

I am really excited about the prospect of actually getting out of my current situation though. I am thankful for all of the experience I have gotten while I was an undergraduate student. I am certainly ready to take the next step in my education though. I plan on really busting my ass, no matter where I end up. This is going to be my opportunity to finally work exclusively on things that really interest me. I plan on taking advantage of that.

More to follow soon. I have to send UTK a reply by March 9th.

Whew

I got an email from a professor last night which stated I should be getting an official offer to attend graduate school later this week. I was really not enjoying sitting around and waiting to hear something back from someone, anyone at this point. Now, at least I know all of that scrambling around to get all of those applications in on time wasn't a total waste.

Waugh!

It has been a few weeks since I posted and I suppose it is time for an update. The meeting up at UT-Knoxville went well. I met with Dr. Hatcher and we talked for quite some time about upcoming research and the way things work in the life of grad students there. I also met the acting department chair as well as the graduate admissions chair. Currently, I have the application submitted, but my transcript from UNC still hasn't been added to my application packet. I am a little frustrated about that, but hopefully that will be resolved this week.

I spent almost tow weeks working up at Center Hill Dam immediately after I went to UTK. It was pretty cold weather for drilling, but we made due and got finished ahead of schedule.

The sitting and waiting to hear back portion of applying to graduate school is definitely my least favorite so far.