Chrissymisha

I actually never finished my application. I was exhausted after 11 applications, so I put it off, and then just never went back to it. At this point I probably couldn't even go if I got the interview, so the joke will be on me if my interviews don't go very well. For me I considered it a safety only because I've basically done the first year and half of the program because the PhD and MS programs are so similar. For an outsider I would say it's probably mid-tier. The admissions committee is really good at looking at the whole package and not focusing on GPA/GRE scores so much, but they're accepting half as many people as they did when I joined because of funding. It also depends on which track you plan on going into. Some are more competitive than others.

I think they meant UTSA which is separate from UTHSCSA which from your signature is the one I think you applied to (could be wrong). I go to UTHSCSA and I don't think they've had their first interview weekend since the deadline hasn't technically passed yet. And I don't remember being asked to participate, but I could be wrong. I know they have a weekend Feb 5-7 because a friend of mine is going. I'm not sure if there is a January one.

I think a lot of the anxiety and confusion regarding interview weekends could be solved simply by the universities explicitly stating when their interview weekends are going to be on their websites/applications. I knew that the only Brown-NIH interview weekend was the third week in February, so I held off committing to that weekend for another school until I heard from them. It actually made my decision process easier. Apparently some interview weekends aren't set in stone and change from year to year at certain schools, so I get not saying when the weekends are in that case (though this could be solved by simply making the decision earlier; it's the same process every year), but for some universities especially with some of the more prestigious schools, we know from the results search what their weekends are and they don't change. Why not just say from the beginning what that weekend is? I knew that when I applied to 11 programs that if I received 4+ invites that there were going to be conflicts. There are only so many weekends after all. I have managed to work it out so that I've only had to decline one interview, but because I didn't know what everyone's weekends were it was an interview that I had softly committed to early on, and I felt really bad about then declining. In the end, it puts unnecessary pressure on us which could easily be dealt with if they were just more upfront about the interviews.

Congrats to the Columbia invites. I'm really hoping that they'll still be sending out invites tomorrow. Though I have no idea how I'd even get to visit since I've already committed to UPenn and Emory for those weekends.

Heard from Georgetown today. I think it was an official invite, but I don't think they have confirmed their interview dates. Unfortunately all three they gave me conflict with other interviews. Most likely I'll have to decline UVA's interview since Georgetown is more of a priority, but I worry about getting rid of my safety school, and I was really looking forward to the visit.

I mean I wouldn't count out getting an invite outside of office hours, but I definitely stop compulsively checking my email after 5. I might go insane otherwise.

I think it's highly unlikely. The latest I've heard from a program was around 4pm, but keep in mind that different time zones will affect that. So a west coast school might send after 6 your time while 6 will come earlier for east coast schools.

I had to take a break from this site because it was stressing me out, but at this point if I don't get anymore interviews I'll still be happy. Congrats to everyone on the interview invites. I think this has been a busy week for all of us. For anyone who is curious I received a call from UVA on the 12th, and one from Emory on the 16th, and then today I received an email invite from the Brown-NIH graduate partnership program and Baylor IBMS. What's weird is I don't think Baylor has my last LOR (the deadline is Jan. 1st), but I guess it didn't matter. Unfortunately both weekends conflict with UPenn or Brown-NIH, so unless I'm able to arrange something, I don't think I'll be able to go. At this point I'm really only waiting to hear from Columbia, Weill Cornell, and maybe UNC-Chapel Hill or Georgetown, but Chapel Hill has already sent out some, so I'm not terribly optimistic for them. Any idea when I might hear from the other three? I'm nervous about confirming interviews before I hear from them.

Just to further drive this point. There is usually a period when you join a program (a few weeks typically) where you are supposed to be setting up your rotation schedule. At this point, you'd be able to meet with as many professors as you wish, so you're definitely not losing a chance with them. Right now getting accepted is what's important. Also good luck to everyone, hopefully we'll all hear some good news this week! I'm going back to refreshing my email every ten minutes.

Or at least let the next two weeks pass by quickly, so I can continue panicking at home while I'm on vacation. At least there will be more distractions!

Also just got an invite to UPenn Neuro! I'm so excited. I was starting to feel kind of depressed that others had started to get invites, but at least I have one now! Good luck everyone!

Also just got an invite to UPenn Neuro! I'm so excited. I was starting to feel kind of depressed that others had started to get invites, but at least I have one now! Good luck everyone

There are a good many programs that have Dec. 15th deadlines. Out of the one's that I've done: Northwestern-DCP has a Dec. 15th deadline, Baylor College of Medicine is Jan 1st and UT Health Science Center at San Antonio is Jan 15th. I think UTHealth in Houston may be late as well. The good thing about most Texas schools is that there isn't usually an application fee.

Go to your profile, then Edit Profile, and then a Signature link will be on the left hand side.

I don't disagree, and I worked really hard to save up so that the financial aspect wouldn't be a factor. I also lost time that I had planned on working on my apps due to a family emergency and then getting sick myself. I ended up losing about a week and a half at the beginning of November, so had things gone more according to plan, it might not have been so bad. Of course I still don't know how this is going to work out, so my opinion is only worth so much at this point, but I will say that I wouldn't apply to 10+ programs just for the sake of increasing your chances by applying to as many as possible. I actually had about 4-5 other programs I was looking at, but I limited myself to the 12 I really liked based on research fit, location, etc. and dismissed the ones I was only casually interested in.