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notsaxophones

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  • Application Season
    2015 Fall
  • Program
    Microbiology

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  1. Hi everyone, I am a first year graduate student in a Molecular and Cellular biology program, and recently went to a talk by an author on the paper I have linked below. This paper details the state of biomedical sciences research in the US and discusses, and really made me think about trying to use my time as a graduate student to figure out what careers other than academia are feasible, and how I might eventually accomplish one of those careers. Many of us in my first year program agreed that this is good information to know, so I figured I would share it here. I'm not trying to scare anyone - but I feel like even though I had a fuzzy idea of what was going on with bio/biomedical careers when I applied to grad school, that this has helped me really get a grasp on the reality of the situation. The speaker just happened to bring up a good point that when you are considering grad programs, that we should see what their strengths are other than just producing students to go on to do postdocs and academia. http://www.pnas.org/content/111/16/5773.full.pdf Good luck on all of your applications! Notsaxophones
  2. I am a little disappointed, but the expectations are pretty high. I'm trying again next year and can hopefully build from their feedback
  3. I had one professor tell me he didn't want to read my personal statement before he met me so that he could get the direct impression of my research from me. Which is funny, because he is one of the professors that I mentioned in my personal statement as one of my top POI's at the school.
  4. I had a similar thing with University of Washington. After the second set of interviews there my fiancee and parents told me i would not shut up about Seattle and the program. I went to another interview after that and when i was texting my fiancee at night about it he was like "yep. We're going to Seattle, I can tell"
  5. Also, I would like to add that matching me with professors I was interested in actually didn't make the interview weekend better. With my two at washington, for the first I was matched with all people I really thought I was interested in. For the second, I felt like I was randomly assigned professors (I am a bacteria person and was very confused as to why I was placed with a Zebrafish eye person and a mouse cancer person). But I at the interviews, I found out that a lot of the people that I thought I was interested in wouldn't be labs I would want to join (professors thinking of retiring, etc), and that things I thought I wasn't interested in are actually really cool. I think that second program was also trying to show me the breadth that they offered as an umbrella program, and trust me, it worked.
  6. I've already chosen mine but I'm still terrified to give the official "yes" and "no" notifications, because what if something happens and for some completely unforseen reason I would need to go to a different institution? (complete paranoia, I know. probably just decision anxiety haha)
  7. From what I've heard, if a program is too postdoc-heavy you might get fewer chances to publish (aka, work harder to get your project noticed). But at my interviews, if there was a poster session not too many people presented - I don't think this is a representation of not many grad students being involved though, I think it was due to space, time, and who had the desire to give one. At some of my interviews I know that probably only half of the grad students participated in the extracurricular activities, and that made me feel like there isn't the pressure to HAVE to participate in every single thing the program does. Also, what I've been told over and over is that it depends on what kind of a student you are. If you are very self-motivated, do not need as much mentorship, and are essentially confident in being more independent in your research, then you could thrive in a less grad student-centric institute. Just depends on your personality and abilities.
  8. If they are a part of the CGS then ignore their pressure. One of my schools repeatedly told me that if anyone tries to tell you that you have to decide before April 15th that they are wrong and to ignore them because you have the right to that time to decide.
  9. How much longer is he at his school? how far apart are the schools? I have to say from 4.5 years of first-hand experience, long distance relationships SUCK. Thankfully my fiancee will be able to move in with me when I go to grad school because he will be separating from the military and going to undergrad wherever i go. But you have to look at your situation: How long have you two been together? Could you survive the distance? Do you see yourselves having a long-term future together? I can't say which option is better for you but these are some things to think about.
  10. Best: University of Washington: MCB let me change my interview weekend so i could just make one round-trip to seattle and they did so immediately when i called. Worst: None were particularly bad
  11. I've officially been accepted into my last two programs - UW madison and UW Seattle Microbiology!
  12. Yes, University of Washington Micro you fly in on Sunday, interview Monday, do tours Tuesday and fly out on Tuesday
  13. Some places do take longer to get back. If your school has a second interview weekend after yours they might not send the acceptances until after that.
  14. To add to the child care portion, when I interviewed at University of Washington they told us that Fred Hutch has some really good child care facilities for people who work there. (So if you would join a lab at the Hutch, you could access those facilities). UW-Madison also boasted about how their grad students were having children as a show of how good the health care and stipend-to-living ratio are in Madison. Also, at every school I interviewed there was at least one current student who is a parent and they usually put one of those people on the student panel so that you could talk to them about being a parent in grad school. One other thing I was told is that PI's who have children are more likely to understand that their students actually have lives outside of lab. So talk to students about how their PI's are in regards to how much they want their students to be in lab 24-7
  15. I got accepted to University of Washington's MCB program! After completing all of my interviews, I am very strongly leaning towards that program, or their Micro program (if i get in). Super excited!
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