This is always the part of the year that is both nervous for seniors and their advisers/mentors. You have worked hard for 4 years preparing your student for success. For many students it was not a straight line. And now is the time when you start to hear back from graduate schools, engineering schools, etc. Did your students get in on the first round? What if they need the second round? What if they need to get a job but they really want to go to graduate school? It is always a stressful time.

As every year, I have a number of students who are applying for graduate schools. Already one former student has gotten into a number of exciting Ph.D. programs and is having trouble picking between them. (Sometimes I think that is almost harder.)

This morning, I walked into my email account and saw this email forwarded from a student I have been working closely with for years:

On behalf of all the faculty in our department I would like to congratulate you for being accepted to our PhD program. We believe strongly you would be a great fit to our program and that we in turn can be an excellent stepping stone in your career. We certainly hope you decide to join our department and become part of our community. You will receive a full tuition waiver and a research stipend of …

I am smiling ear-to-ear! I love messages like this one. !!!!

But there are still other students I am impatiently waiting on. I get so nervous. Good Luck everyone! And tell me the news as soon as you know!