Paydirt!

I promised I would keep up to date with this as I heard back from grad schools, regardless of how certain I was with the progress, so here's how it stands now.

Last time I wrote on the topic, I had mentioned switching my applications around, and how that had put me in a sticky situation. Well, sticky situations remain complicated, but at least the ending is becoming a bit clearer now.

About a week ago, I got an interview with Honeywell which I felt went really well. Monday morning I was contacted to inform me that my application had advanced to the next level, which is good news. I won't hear anything for a few weeks, but it's out there which is a definite plus.

On Thursday morning I was emailed by the department head of the Atmospheric Sciences department at UIUC saying he wanted to talk to me about a potential opportunity there. (UIUC is one school where I kept my application at Atmospheric Science) He asked that I let him know when I'd be available for a 15 minute conversation, and he would call me. I let him know I was available as soon as class was over.

When we spoke, he mentioned that they were looking at TA positions for the year, and that I was being considered for one. He gave me a short description of what I'd be doing, and asked if I was interested - I was. I let him know that I was definitely not in a position to commit just yet, but I was definitely interested. UIUC has, up to this point, continually impressed me with how pleasant they've been to work with, something which is massively factoring into my decision.

The next part of the conversation is where things got impressive, to me anyway. He asked if I would be able to come see the campus to see if I felt I would be a good fit, and if it's somewhere I wanted to be. I told him I would love to, but I honestly didn't have the funds to do so. His immediate response was that that was no issue - the department would cover all of that, plane, hotel, etc. The only cost to me would be my time. It would definitely be an interview for both parties (The dept. head said they would also like to see if I'd be a good fit for them), but it's gone far beyond my wildest thoughts so far.

So, here I am, with a chance to really get a look into whether Atmospheric Science would let me do what I want to do with a degree. The department is really making me feel like they want me there, which is such a huge thing for me. And they're paying to have me come out there.

I'm still going to wait to hear back from PSU and UWash, but with one (unofficial) acceptance down with funding, and an interview for a job that's gone well, I'm in a much better spot than I could've hoped to be at this point. After kicking and punching the wall for so long, it looks like it's finally starting to come down.