Discussion of 2009 Profiles

  • This has become our largest and most active forum because the physics GRE is just one aspect of getting accepted into a graduate physics program.
  • There are applications, personal statements, letters of recommendation, visiting schools, anxiety of waiting for acceptances, deciding between schools, finding out where others are going, etc.

Nambla
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Re: Discussion of 2009 Profiles

Post by Nambla » Thu Jan 22, 2009 8:27 pm

Excalibur1986 wrote:I'm going to graduate school!!! UC-Riverside just accepted me. What a relief!
I, too, got a phone call from a UC Riverside professor [unofficially] accepting me into their program this afternoon. I am very happy to have an acceptance already in the bag this early in the season.

Excalibur1986
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Re: Discussion of 2009 Profiles

Post by Excalibur1986 » Thu Jan 22, 2009 11:16 pm

Although it was an "unofficial" acceptance for me as well, I highly doubt that they'll overturn it. He made a point of stating that they have never had someone rejected by the university after being recommended for admission. It would be quite unfortunate to be the first.

I'm waiting anxiously for UCSB's and UCSD's decisions which, if history follows 2008, will arrive mid-late Feb. Physics, Mediterranean climate, and the beach; it doesn't get much better than that. 8)

Also does anyone have any idea about medical physics decisions and when they usually arrive?

wade money
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Re: Discussion of 2009 Profiles

Post by wade money » Fri Jan 23, 2009 11:16 am

I dunno why people expect stanford to tell them.... their email clearly states that they won't contact you unless something is missing.
at least for me, that is not true. They never emailed me. I emailed them asking if my application was complete, and they told me they didn't have my transcript.

Fortunately, I had sent it to the applied physics department instead of physics, where I'm applying. I told them that and the person got my transcript and finally told me that my application was complete.

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Helio
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Re: Discussion of 2009 Profiles

Post by Helio » Fri Jan 23, 2009 12:20 pm

wade money wrote:
I dunno why people expect stanford to tell them.... their email clearly states that they won't contact you unless something is missing.
at least for me, that is not true. They never emailed me. I emailed them asking if my application was complete, and they told me they didn't have my transcript.

Fortunately, I had sent it to the applied physics department instead of physics, where I'm applying. I told them that and the person got my transcript and finally told me that my application was complete.
that is applied physics not physics... If they do not get my stuff and don't tell me I want a refund of my 105 dollars they are really the only other school right now that can get me out of austin as long as the others don't throw money at me

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trani
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Re: Discussion of 2009 Profiles

Post by trani » Fri Jan 23, 2009 7:34 pm

Sweeet, we got our first HEP acceptance. Congratulations, dsperka! :D

dsperka
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Re: Discussion of 2009 Profiles

Post by dsperka » Fri Jan 23, 2009 10:49 pm

Thanks!!!

I'm pretty sure I will be accepted at Davis too, got an off the record email that just said I was highly ranked. So Florida probably won't be in my future, but I'm definitely happy to have all the weight off my shoulders.

vaibhavtewari
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Re: Discussion of 2009 Profiles

Post by vaibhavtewari » Sat Jan 24, 2009 12:02 am

wow!!! UFL started offering admission before deadline, I haven't even sent my transcripts yet :lol:

rohit
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Re: Discussion of 2009 Profiles

Post by rohit » Sat Jan 24, 2009 10:23 am

Wow. Are you the oldest(in terms of the time you've been here) user on this website?

vaibhavtewari
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Re: Discussion of 2009 Profiles

Post by vaibhavtewari » Sat Jan 24, 2009 10:28 am

I used to be an engineering undergrad and fascinated by Physics when I made this profile....completed masters in Physics and applying for PhD now..

astromandi
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Re: Discussion of 2009 Profiles

Post by astromandi » Sun Jan 25, 2009 4:28 am

@ Vaibhav

You said in your profile that you have worked on Quantum Information.
Was that at Matscience by any chance ?? Were you summer student working with Hari Dass??
I dont remember exactly whom, but someone talked about IITkgp student working with Hari Dass. So was wondering wetaher that was you ???

vaibhavtewari
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Re: Discussion of 2009 Profiles

Post by vaibhavtewari » Sun Jan 25, 2009 3:33 pm

no, it wasn't me !

astromandi
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Re: Discussion of 2009 Profiles

Post by astromandi » Mon Jan 26, 2009 6:26 am

My scores are identiacal to your scores
Q 800
V 380
P 990

and I have also applied to Wisc,Boston & Penn State.
So probably our applications might clash. :( :( Hoping for the best. :)

vaibhavtewari
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Re: Discussion of 2009 Profiles

Post by vaibhavtewari » Mon Jan 26, 2009 9:03 am

don't worry they will surely have many more than one seat....

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Helio
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Re: Discussion of 2009 Profiles

Post by Helio » Mon Jan 26, 2009 5:33 pm

I just got an email for PSU astronomy. That my app is complete and they said they don't know when they will make decisions....


edit:

we just past last year with no. of profiles btw... :shock:

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Helio
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Re: Discussion of 2009 Profiles

Post by Helio » Wed Jan 28, 2009 1:33 pm

UCSD opened the flood gates.... congrats dpserka

dsperka
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Re: Discussion of 2009 Profiles

Post by dsperka » Thu Jan 29, 2009 12:23 pm

Thanks Helio.

And congratulations to the Washington acceptees!

trani: Is Washington one of your top choices?

senor_frijole: I'll trade you my UCSD for your Washington. jk jk jk

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trani
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Re: Discussion of 2009 Profiles

Post by trani » Thu Jan 29, 2009 12:29 pm

@dsperka:

I will be more than happy to be there, but I got my eyes on the east coast at the moment (Chicago & Columbia). In the end it would depend on what the professors are gonna say when I talk to them at open house. I am interested in specific groups in each university so I wanna see what are the dynamics of the group at each place before deciding.

How about you? What is your top choice?

dsperka
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Re: Discussion of 2009 Profiles

Post by dsperka » Thu Jan 29, 2009 12:35 pm

Washington and UCLA are probably my top two. They have the perfect combination of prestige and location. UCSD has a good program, but living in San Diego might be less than optimal. Sure it has the beach, but the campus is so far away from the more happening areas. Boston U. and NYU have perfect locations for me, but not first tier programs. Never the less, I think I'd be happy at UCSD.

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Helio
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Re: Discussion of 2009 Profiles

Post by Helio » Thu Jan 29, 2009 4:59 pm

dsperka wrote:Washington and UCLA are probably my top two. They have the perfect combination of prestige and location. UCSD has a good program, but living in San Diego might be less than optimal. Sure it has the beach, but the campus is so far away from the more happening areas. Boston U. and NYU have perfect locations for me, but not first tier programs. Never the less, I think I'd be happy at UCSD.

I dunno UCLA might have its own little part of LA really... more of a college town feel, but Santa Monica is still about 10 miles away, maybe pasadena is a bit closer than USC, but not much... BTW If you don't have a car in LA you are just stranded

cato88
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Re: Discussion of 2009 Profiles

Post by cato88 » Thu Jan 29, 2009 5:17 pm

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=ucla

UCLA is pretty close to the beach and USC is located between UCLA and Pasadena.

sterculus
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Re: Discussion of 2009 Profiles

Post by sterculus » Thu Jan 29, 2009 5:38 pm

There's a little bit of 'college town' in Westwood (LA neighborhood that UCLA is in) but it's definitely urban too - especially to the south/southeast of campus, there are ~20 floor high rises and such. You're very close to Santa Monica and a few other beaches (5-10 miles) and Hollywood (a couple miles). There are buses that head out to the beach, Hollywood and downtown from UCLA that are pretty good in my experience, although clearly a car is very nice to get further than that.

I'm not sure why Pasadena would be such a great destination from the UCLA area - there's much more to do around UCLA (...Hollywood, etc) than in Pasadena. Anyways, I was at UCLA last summer so I can field some questions about the area if you guys have any.

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Helio
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Re: Discussion of 2009 Profiles

Post by Helio » Thu Jan 29, 2009 5:46 pm

sterculus wrote:There's a little bit of 'college town' in Westwood (LA neighborhood that UCLA is in) but it's definitely urban too - especially to the south/southeast of campus, there are ~20 floor high rises and such. You're very close to Santa Monica and a few other beaches (5-10 miles) and Hollywood (a couple miles). There are buses that head out to the beach, Hollywood and downtown from UCLA that are pretty good in my experience, although clearly a car is very nice to get further than that.

I'm not sure why Pasadena would be such a great destination from the UCLA area - there's much more to do around UCLA (...Hollywood, etc) than in Pasadena. Anyways, I was at UCLA last summer so I can field some questions about the area if you guys have any.

well i was looking more for the nature things to do in LA, which are all closer to pasadena... and old town is always nice to walk through. Well, I dunno you guys are quicker and better public transport to the beach and santa monica. For USC, the need for a car is greater imo

sterculus
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Re: Discussion of 2009 Profiles

Post by sterculus » Thu Jan 29, 2009 5:55 pm

Yeah, Pasadena is much closer to the mountains. There's some great hiking/backpacking in the area, although if you have a car to get there it's only another 30min or so from Westwood (assuming that you're not going when there's heavy traffic).

dsperka
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Re: Discussion of 2009 Profiles

Post by dsperka » Thu Jan 29, 2009 7:14 pm

Does anyone have any opinions on where a UCSD grad student might live? Anyone familiar with the area?

nathan12343
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Re: Discussion of 2009 Profiles

Post by nathan12343 » Thu Jan 29, 2009 8:37 pm

For all you physics peeps, I heard from the former chair of the department today that Colorado received more than 550 applications, with about 1/3 coming from China.

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Helio
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Re: Discussion of 2009 Profiles

Post by Helio » Thu Jan 29, 2009 11:22 pm

nathan12343 wrote:For all you physics peeps, I heard from the former chair of the department today that Colorado received more than 550 applications, with about 1/3 coming from China.
anything about the planetary science people?

congrats gumpstuck on michigan

Excalibur1986
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Re: Discussion of 2009 Profiles

Post by Excalibur1986 » Fri Jan 30, 2009 12:25 am

nathan12343 wrote:For all you physics peeps, I heard from the former chair of the department today that Colorado received more than 550 applications, with about 1/3 coming from China.
That's about 50 more than last year, and they still admit about 100. A slightly less than 20% admittance rate is comparable to other programs, and I'm going to take a not so wild guess that the stiffest competition for admittance will be among those who listed AMO as their interest.

If 1/3 are from China, I imagine that another 1/3 or 1/4 of the applications are also international. Pretty good odds for a domestic like me 8)

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Helio
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Re: Discussion of 2009 Profiles

Post by Helio » Fri Jan 30, 2009 6:13 pm

Congrats to everyone that got into Madison...


I am part of that group too.. :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

dsperka
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Re: Discussion of 2009 Profiles

Post by dsperka » Fri Jan 30, 2009 6:53 pm

If you got into Wisconsin, you should definitely come here!!! As long as you don't mind the cold (its 9 degrees now), there isn't a better college town in the whole country!

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Helio
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Re: Discussion of 2009 Profiles

Post by Helio » Fri Jan 30, 2009 6:55 pm

dsperka wrote:If you got into Wisconsin, you should definitely come here!!! As long as you don't mind the cold (its 9 degrees now), there isn't a better college town in the whole country!
I dunno i like palo alto too.... but i will see for myself..... i need to look at my work schedule or figure out which weekend to choose

dsperka
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Re: Discussion of 2009 Profiles

Post by dsperka » Fri Jan 30, 2009 7:04 pm

Palo Alto is really nice, no argument there. But Madison is way cheaper. I think we party harder too.

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Helio
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Re: Discussion of 2009 Profiles

Post by Helio » Fri Jan 30, 2009 7:06 pm

dsperka wrote:Palo Alto is really nice, no argument there. But Madison is way cheaper. I think we party harder too.

I guess you haven't been to USC.... swat teams and police in riot gear at least once a year... Plus we get the ghetto birds (read helicopters) at least 2 times a week

dsperka
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Re: Discussion of 2009 Profiles

Post by dsperka » Fri Jan 30, 2009 7:17 pm

Helio wrote:
dsperka wrote:Palo Alto is really nice, no argument there. But Madison is way cheaper. I think we party harder too.

I guess you haven't been to USC.... swat teams and police in riot gear at least once a year... Plus we get the ghetto birds (read helicopters) at least 2 times a week
Yea, south central parties pretty hard too. ha

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Helio
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Re: Discussion of 2009 Profiles

Post by Helio » Fri Jan 30, 2009 7:32 pm

dsperka wrote:
Helio wrote:
dsperka wrote:Palo Alto is really nice, no argument there. But Madison is way cheaper. I think we party harder too.

I guess you haven't been to USC.... swat teams and police in riot gear at least once a year... Plus we get the ghetto birds (read helicopters) at least 2 times a week
Yea, south central parties pretty hard too. ha
well and students get robbed, raped, shot and stabbed... lovely place to spend 4 years :P

cato88
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Re: Discussion of 2009 Profiles

Post by cato88 » Sat Jan 31, 2009 6:21 am

Sergei: Do you have publications?
Wondering about your opinion on how you obtained Fulbright with average class position and 600 PGRE.
I think it might illustrate the value of things other than PGRE and GPA in an application.

Ennio
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Re: Discussion of 2009 Profiles

Post by Ennio » Sat Jan 31, 2009 8:07 am

cato88 wrote:Sergei: Do you have publications?
Wondering about your opinion on how you obtained Fulbright with average class position and 600 PGRE.
I think it might illustrate the value of things other than PGRE and GPA in an application.
Yeah I am curious too, your experience may help Sergei!

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coreycwgriffin
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Re: Discussion of 2009 Profiles

Post by coreycwgriffin » Mon Feb 02, 2009 3:00 am

I've heard some really good things about Madison from faculty at my college.

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Helio
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Re: Discussion of 2009 Profiles

Post by Helio » Mon Feb 02, 2009 3:01 am

coreycwgriffin wrote:I've heard some really good things about Madison from faculty at my college.
could you indulge us in any opinions?

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metric
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Re: Discussion of 2009 Profiles

Post by metric » Mon Feb 02, 2009 10:16 am

Congrats Helio! I'll go to Madison during the second open house. BTW, I saw on your profile that you applied to OSU and you mentioned your interest in Auger, the UW-Madison is also involved in the project.

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coreycwgriffin
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Re: Discussion of 2009 Profiles

Post by coreycwgriffin » Mon Feb 02, 2009 1:17 pm

Helio wrote:
coreycwgriffin wrote:I've heard some really good things about Madison from faculty at my college.
could you indulge us in any opinions?
Well, one professor keeps mentioning that we students at my small, New England/North Eastern liberal arts school should all apply to the mid-west public schools, since they usually have good funding and a need for TAs. She herself went to Minnesota (one of the schools I applied to) but she can't say enough how much she enjoyed Madison as a college town that she frequented for one reason or another, and how it wasn't crazy urban, if you know what I mean.

She also told us a story about having her car stolen in Minneapolis while a student there. I really hope that doesn't happen to me if I go there.

evilclaw2321
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Re: Discussion of 2009 Profiles

Post by evilclaw2321 » Mon Feb 02, 2009 1:22 pm

Both Minnesota and madison are good palces to go for physics, and both are good places to live. Madison is only a college town though so yes less urban, but in minneapolis you have museums, concerts, sporting events, all kinds of bars and restaurants from the unique to the trendy to the dives. Weather is about the same in both places (sucky! very extreme very hot n humid in the summer and cold and snowy in the winter). I do know at minnesota they are always in need of good physics TAs, the department is pretty large with diverese research interests. Personally I prefer minneapolis to madison (school and city) but of course its a matter of preference.

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dlenmn
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Re: Discussion of 2009 Profiles

Post by dlenmn » Mon Feb 02, 2009 2:25 pm

evilclaw2321 wrote:very hot n humid in the summer
This is the second time someone has posted such a statement. There are many places in the US which are truly hot and humid during the summer. Madison is not one of them. An average July high of 82F simply doesn't qualify as very hot.

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Helio
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Re: Discussion of 2009 Profiles

Post by Helio » Mon Feb 02, 2009 2:31 pm

metric wrote:Congrats Helio! I'll go to Madison during the second open house. BTW, I saw on your profile that you applied to OSU and you mentioned your interest in Auger, the UW-Madison is also involved in the project.

Thanks. I am planning to go to the second one as well. Nobody else for the second weekend since a lot of people got accepted.


I know about OSU... I mentioned that in my SOP, I hope i get in and maybe change to astronomy later :P

evilclaw2321
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Re: Discussion of 2009 Profiles

Post by evilclaw2321 » Mon Feb 02, 2009 3:27 pm

dlenmn wrote:
evilclaw2321 wrote:very hot n humid in the summer
This is the second time someone has posted such a statement. There are many places in the US which are truly hot and humid during the summer. Madison is not one of them. An average July high of 82F simply doesn't qualify as very hot.

Ok first, I was speaking more of experience from minneapolis area, which may be different than madison i admit. Secondly, yes there are many places that are hotter and more humid than mn/wi, however the point is most of them don't have the extremes we do. Miami may get hotter than the 95 or so we get in mn but they also dont get down to -40 in the winter. So yes 90 plus 60% humidity is techincally hot and humid, espicially when you just defrosted yourself.

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dlenmn
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Re: Discussion of 2009 Profiles

Post by dlenmn » Mon Feb 02, 2009 3:58 pm

evilclaw2321 wrote:So yes 90 plus 60% humidity is techincally hot and humid, espicially when you just defrosted yourself.
I agree that that is hot (perhaps not very hot though), but how often does it happen? If my count is correct, it only got above 90 once in Madison last year. It happened slightly more often the year before that (according to a previously linked wikipedia article, Houston hits that temperature an average of 99 days a year). It did not once get above 95 in those two years. You have plenty of time to defrost before it gets hot, if it does. Any way you slice it, technically other otherwise, it does not happen often enough for the climate to count as very hot.

Perhaps Minneapolis is much different. Look it up and report back if you feel so inclined.

(The linked NOAA data files will be available for 2 weeks.)

evilclaw2321
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Re: Discussion of 2009 Profiles

Post by evilclaw2321 » Mon Feb 02, 2009 4:40 pm

This is silly to debate, but yes as I said I was speaking for the twin cities, which has a similar climate but obviosuly not the same. The data for 07 in minneapolis says it was 90 degrees or above 25 days between may and august, and between 80 to 90 50 days from may to august. And that doesn't count any humidity.
Of course houston hits that temperature more days a year because they dont have a long cold winter like us. I was only referring to our summer which does get warm, some days hot. Your missing the point I was trying to make I was not trying to claim that its always a hot climate here, I just didn't want people to think that midwest, usually associated with cold, never gets hot and we have nice cool summers because we don't, and when it does get hot it is not dry heat it is usually humid. People know that houston is hotter than the midwest, obviously, but that doesn't mean you can't say its not hot up here sometimes in the summer. So you have to put things in perspective. You can check the data here

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dlenmn
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Re: Discussion of 2009 Profiles

Post by dlenmn » Mon Feb 02, 2009 5:18 pm

evilclaw2321 wrote:Your missing the point I was trying to make I was not trying to claim that its always a hot climate here, I just didn't want people to think that midwest, usually associated with cold, never gets hot and we have nice cool summers because we don't, and when it does get hot it is not dry heat it is usually humid. People know that houston is hotter than the midwest, obviously, but that doesn't mean you can't say its not hot up here sometimes in the summer. So you have to put things in perspective. You can check the data here
That's an excellent point to make and I agree completely. The reason I missed it is because you did not make it until your most recent post. "[The weather is] sucky! very extreme very hot n humid in the summer and cold and snowy in the winter," is a much different statement.

hpharty
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Re: Discussion of 2009 Profiles

Post by hpharty » Mon Feb 02, 2009 5:27 pm

Congrats to you people who seem to have been accepted to JHU today. PM me if you think I can provide any helpful information, as I am currently a student.

dsperka
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Re: Discussion of 2009 Profiles

Post by dsperka » Mon Feb 02, 2009 5:33 pm

@ hpharty: How is Baltimore as a city? Having seen The Wire, I am little worried.

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Helio
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Re: Discussion of 2009 Profiles

Post by Helio » Mon Feb 02, 2009 5:35 pm

dsperka wrote:@ hpharty: How is Baltimore as a city? Having seen The Wire, I am little worried.
Well 300 deaths per year from gunshots, people getting shot by stray bullets through their apartment doors, but having lived in South Central for the past 4 years I must those stats are not as horrible as their sound as long as the campus police is really good.



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