For OSU, winter AAS always falls on the first week of classes, making it hard for any of us to attend. I hate being the prof who misses my own first class. 😬
OSU astronomy got 241 applications this year, and we plan to admit ~10 people (4.1% acceptance).
Reading grad apps today, the one I'm looking at now (a student finishing undergrad in 2024) has 3 first-author + 7 co-authored refereed papers. HOW IS THIS EVEN POSSIBLE.
Timescales as a professor vs earlier career stages are wild. Reading grad apps, one said they were inspired to be an astronomer when the EHT image of M87 came out in high school! I was in my current job for several years at that point, and I'm the 2nd-youngest prof in our dept!
I do feel like it was a silly question that deserved a silly answer.
Remembering my Pappalardo interview after helping an outstanding student prepare for theirs: they asked me what the 5th term of a multipole expansion is called, & I said, "A sexapole?". I'm glad that I got the job, so I can laugh about it instead of being FOREVER MORTIFIED.
University email: STUDENT has requested that you write a letter of recommendation on their behalf. Me: Ok. Which dept? Uni: Me: Uhh.... When is this due? Uni: By the deadline. Me: Which is...? Uni: Is this student (A) the best student you ever worked with or (B) the worst? 🧪🎢 #AcademicChatter
For everyone seeing this post now, the Nov 15 deadline for the fee waiver program is a soft one, so still encourage students to apply to cut down on application costs!