Raptor Science Activate

Follow this link and input your unique University Identification Number (sent by NYU in an earlier email). Your should be able to see your application status. http://www.nyu.edu/gsas/request/smts.html

I'm so sorry to hear about your experience! That is appalling. If you don't mind my asking, did you choose to disclose your illness? Or is this something the schools discovered on their own? I thought conventional advice was to avoid disclosing health issues at all costs -- especially if they are highly stigmatized -- until after the acceptance stage (if at all). Often times, employers and programs don't want to know so that they are protected from being sued for health-related discrimination later on. If they don't know, there is no way it can influence their decision either way. One program I recently interviewed at emphasized that while they were happy to accommodate any disabilities as needed, they absolutely did not want to know at this stage of the process (interviews). Of course, sometimes it is impossible to hide a health issue. For instance, it is challenging for my partner, who has a movement disorder, to stop ticking in an interview. I can discuss over PM if you would prefer.

A friend of mine called NYU yesterday and confirmed this. NYU's Center for Neural Science (under GSAS) sent out an immediate group of invites (great fit) as well as an immediate group of rejections (poor fit). Now they are sorting through the middle group. I'm still "under review" at this time as well. I'm not necessarily expecting an interview at this stage, though. Relatively speaking, NYU isn't my strongest research match. Side note, Michigan didn't receive one of my LORs until 12/23 -- after interviews went out. I would have sworn it was submitted before the 12/1 deadline! *sigh*

I am! I'm especially interested in mood disorders, learning, pair bonding, and drug addiction/pharmacology. I approach things through the lens of molecular biology, so I applied mostly to neurobiology programs as well as a couple psych programs. In retrospect, I might have benefited from applying to a couple umbrella programs, as I have additional extensive research experience in fields other than neuroscience (cancer biology, inflammation, gastroenterology). I'm not sure about the timelines for your programs, but I hope you hear back with exciting news soon!

Yes, absolutely -- but I'm expecting to have to work remotely while traveling. Bringing a laptop (or tablet) could also be good if you want to relax, game, look up faculty profiles, etc.

I frequently have to go back and forth between patient procedures and the lab bench, so I'm planning on wearing some of my clinic dresses. I'll pair with low-heeled booties, a camisole for modesty, and black leggings for warmth. I own a suit, but I feel ridiculous in it. I'd rather wear something I'm used to working in.

Oh no, it's absolutely fine. Thank you both for verifying, and best of luck to you both! I just wanted to see confirmation from someone on this thread rather than a single post on the anonymous school list before I made any additional scheduling decisions/assumptions. A few days ago, someone posted a Cornell invite early on the anonymous school list (nobody had posted confirmation here yet). I ended up falsely assuming I was rejected from Cornell and booked an alternate interview over Cornell's one interview weekend only to have them invite me a few days later. Now I'm stuck with a big scheduling mess trying to arrange an alternate visit at Cornell. Knowing UCSD has sent its invites out already makes it MUCH easier to figure out what to do with scheduling for my other interviews. Thanks again for the clarification!

I think someone's trolling. UCSD normally invites in mid-January. Why would they release so early on a holiday weekend? I'll believe it if other people on here start getting invites. I would be nice to have closure from UCSD for scheduling and peace of mind. Merry Christmas, everyone! Happy Hanukkah!

The Emory invite was for both weekends. They're still cutting down the 53 interviewees at that stage. The email emphasized they want a final class size of 15.

I replied to the program admin, since he's the one handling the logistics for interview weekend scheduling. If you later have more specific questions about the PhD program itself, you should contact the Admissions Committee Chair.

I know UChicago's Neurobiology program reviews on a different schedule than Integrative Neuroscience (invites in Jan). I am not sure about Computational Neuroscience in specific, but that one is likely on a different schedule as well.

Just got a voicemail invite from Emory! They'll be following up with email invites shortly. For anyone trying to balance a bunch of interviews, the two weekends are 2/2-2/4 and 2/16-2/18.

Just heard back with an email invite to UCLA also!!

No worries. I feel you. I hope you get some interview offers soon! I've gotten 2 interviews and have a prescreen set up for next week, but I'm also bummed at missing interviews for some schools I thought I was a good fit for. I interview well (and my odd background is easier explained in person), so this was a big disappointment. After missing some of these targets, I'm concerned for how the rest of this cycle will play out. I was told by an adcom from a high-ranking program that I had a really competitive app, and that I should expect a lot of interest. My letters were stellar. My GRE was OK, not amazing (165V, 158Q, 4.5W). My undergrad GPA is a 3.9cum/3.7 sci from a good school. I took every neuroscience course available at my college along with a bunch of self-designed tutorials. I did a year of independent neuroscience research in college that got published (2nd author behind my PI) in a decent journal. A family emergency required that I take the first job offered out of school, so I had to work in a non-neuro lab. At least it was heavy on molecular bio, so I learned a lot! I could have -- and I guess I should have -- switched labs to a neuro group, but I didn't want to give up a first author paper I was leading. I stuck around for 5 years to see this complex translational human study published in a good journal, and I had a number of other basic science/translational pubs come out in the meantime. I've got 6 published papers total in solid journals with 5 more in prep or review. Yes, only 1 paper is neuro, but I've shown I can be a highly productive scientist and that I have the dedication to lead and support multi-year long projects -- even when that research is in a field that is relatively outside of my passion (neuroscience). I'm in my late 20s, and I don't want to sit out another year. Hopefully some of the places I interview at choose to take me. They're wonderful programs, and I'd be delighted to go there. I don't mean to sound ungrateful. I have some good prospects. I was just encouraged to get my hopes up for even more options. Meh, science involves boatloads of rejection -- papers, grant proposals, etc. You live. You learn. You develop a thick skin.

Got an interview invite (by phone) from UChicago Neurobio as well!