The Last Letter

Late at the end of last week, I received in the mail a thin business envelope sent from University of New England Place. Its contents were of no surprise to me. I was sent informal notification from the graduate admissions coordinator several days before. The letter was formal, polite, and almost consoling. Of the seven letters, in total, that I received, it was one of the nicest. And even though it began with the dreaded "We regret to inform you..." it didn't sting quite as much as the others. Even though the chance existed that I might squirm my way in somewhere, deep down, I've known now for a while that graduate school just isn't in my cards this year.

So... about those alternative plans.

You made alternative plans, didn't you? You didn't? Really? You don't have some sweet field job lined up somewhere? No research technician position in someone's lab? No paid, nine-month internship with a not-for-profit conservation organization? Really?

Hmm...

Well... what are you going to do now?

Exactly.

A few weeks ago I began toying with the idea of contacting every potential graduate adviser with whom I applied to work to inquire about my qualifications as a student and what I might be able to do to improve my application and/or credentials for next year. Although I applied to seven schools, I'd end up writing fifteen or so emails, as several of the departments had two or three professors with which I was interested in working. But I wasn't sure about this particular tactic. I plan on reapplying to many of the same labs next year. If my phrasing was just a little off, I could end up ruining my chances at admission next time round.

I ended up emailing one of my undergraduate advisers, Alan, at College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (hereafter referred to as CLAS) to ask his opinion. His response agreed with my initial reluctance-- don't email them. Many of them wouldn't mind, he said, but you don't want to annoy them or piss them off, especially if you're planning on applying to their labs again this fall. In exchange, however, Alan offered to meet with me and look over my personal statement, CV, transcripts, test scores, and other essays to see where I might have room for improvement.

I made my way to his office last week before I went to work, and we talked for about an hour and a half. He gave me some good advice for a list of things I could try to put myself just that little bit ahead of the pack for next year. So, since I won't be going to grad school this year, I've reformed my list of goals for the remainder of 2010:

• Reapply for the NSF GRFP in the fall. I already planned on doing this. 
• Spend another season in the field. This is very important, and something I've obviously been trying to set up for myself. It seems the job market has steadily become worse since I graduated last year. I try to apply for at least one job every day, but this can be tough. I can't apply for just any field job... my qualifications and research interests have to match the position. And if the job doesn't involved intense fieldwork, data collection and analysis, and at least a technique or two to which I haven't yet been exposed, it's probably not going to get me any closer to a spot at a competitive school. These difficulties are compounded by the fact that I need something longer-term, and something that's paid. Six months, at the very least, and preferably twelve.
• Reorganize my personal statement to emphasize my thesis research upfront. In other words, abandon chronology in my personal statement, to highlight my experience with and commitment to a long-term research project of my own design, executed to completion. If a graduate school is going to be investing tens of thousands of dollars in my education over a period of five to seven years, they want to know that I'm going to be able to stick with a research project. If I decide, one or two years in, that I don't like fieldwork or the tedium of collecting/analyzing/reporting data and quit school, they'll have lost a sizable investment.
• Present the findings of my thesis research at a national conference or meeting. I have presented my research before. Both were oral presentations, one given at CLAS and the other at an undergraduate research conference held in California last year. Neither of these, however, compares to a presentation at a national conference, with a mix of hundreds of students, working professionals, and professors all in one place... potential graduate advisers included. If I want to get myself noticed by someone, either on paper or in person, this is a good place to start. I am currently working on making this happen (more to follow in a later post).
• Publish the results of my senior thesis. This is arguably the most important thing I'll do this year to try and help myself stand out from other applicants. Publications are valuable currency in the academic world. Applying to school with a proven publication record, especially as the primary author in a reputable journal, shows potential advisers that, not only can I do field research, I can analyze and compile data, write it up in a precise format, and have my research reviewed and accepted by working scientists. If I've done it before, what's going to stop me from doing it again... and again, and again and again... in grad school? This is something I've been working towards since my thesis research began. I wrote my senior thesis in a format that would lend itself to reorganization for submission as a paper to a scholarly journal. I made my initial revisions last year before graduation, and my secondary revisions this past November. I've been waiting on the co-author of the paper (my thesis adviser, Walt) to make his own revisions so we can get the damn thing submitted... finally. I've been waiting for months. Come on, Walt! Let's get going! If we're held up by the review process, there's no chance of something being in press by the time the next application season rolls around.

So there you have it. Doesn't sound too complicated, right? Just do a bit of reorganization, find a good, long-term, paying field job, present at a national conference, and get a publication. Piece of cake, right?

If only it were that easy... At least I have something to work toward now, though.

It was admittedly a little strange (not to mention disheartening) this week to think that I graduated a year ago and, apart from a little additional field experience, haven't really gained anything since then. I'm no farther along now than I was last year at this time. In fact, last year I was even doing a little better than I am now... I had some money from graduation socked away to help cover application fees, and I had my stint with the BLM lined up. Right now, I have no foreseeable fieldwork for the summer. Hopefully that will change... soon.