bamafan

Just got mine as well. I've heard they only accept ~3-4 people a year so it was always going to be a tough one, and it looks like we're all in good company! --> http://www.thegradcafe.com/survey/index.php?q=berkeley+computational

A faculty member must agree to sponsor/fund me, so for all intents and purposes, it's a rejection with a chance to get in.

Anyone hear from Berkeley Computational Biology? I saw a rejection post who said all the invites were out. When it rain it pours, it might be my turn to start rolling in the rejections.

Sorry to hear that, was it a straight up reject? I thought I got a reject today, but it was more of a reject/non-admit/maybe-if-you're-lucky. It's a kind of weird thing, something called 'direct admit'. It was the only school I applied to for CMB instead of computational work, which is all of my research experience/publications, so I'm not surprised. I applied less on actual fit and more to just to leave the option of going experimental open, a sort "let's add something different to the application list just for the hell of it".

Don't anguish. I did last year, but you'll get through it and do better next time around. Plus, you still have hope!

I just got one for bioinformatics too; if you want I can email right now and ask if that's it/

Probably drink a quart of hydrogen cyanide.

If you can, ask for them to subsidize the flight as some have mentioned. They don't generally like to do this for international students and use Skype, etc. because it's costly; however, since they offered to invite you to come, this implies they're willing to shoulder some (or all?) of the expense. That said, don't do it just because its "an Ivy". There are many Ivies that aren't so hot depending on the field. Do it if you want to go to this school and it is highly regarding in your field. I'm guessing Harvard or Yale since you're also doing comp bio?

I agree that it is best to have the best recommendations you can get, regardless of who they are from. However, don't discount the power of reputation -- a letter from a PI who is famous or has connections at the institute you're applying to will go a long way. Within most fields, people know who the superstars are amongst themselves and their colleagues, and I've heard of adcoms saying "wow" when they receive one from a stud PI, and also going out to specifically investigate when a letter comes from someone they don't know. That doesn't mean they value it less, of course, but if they're not familiar, they will look into the recommender while a famous rec can potentially have high impact.

You really need to be a lot more firm. Don't be rude or demanding, but they need to help you if they promised to. Tell them the urgency of this and it needs to be in. It's part of their job to do recommendations, but if you've only contacted them once or twice, that doesn't show them the urgency you needed to.

http://deadspin.com/5976517/manti-teos-dead-girlfriend-the-most-heartbreaking-and-inspirational-story-of-the-college-football-season-is-a-hoax In other news, this is bizarre and shocking. I don't know if he's complicit, in which case I have lost tremendous respect for him, or if he has genuinely been hoaxed, in which case he is an idiot for having never met the girl.

I don't mean to be derisive to people who attend for-profit institutions like Phoenix, as going to grad school at all shows initiative and drive, but I mean, they're borderline illegal. While I'm sure the education itself is adequate to good, the way the system operates is really appalling; it's basically a giant scam to funnel financial aid from the government into their pockets. That's the part of the unfortunate reason they're not so highly regarded in reputation. I think it's a great thing they offer accessible education to people who would not otherwise be able to pursue it by circumstance or means, but I find the operation of these universities to be sketchy.

I'm not surprised at all. I've watched Kap since they murdered my Bears and this kid is Russell Wilson with Cam Newton's size. A real steal in last year's second round, especially since he's gotten a year to develop under Alex Smith. The real threat about him is his release time -- it's hard to sack him because he gets the ball out of his hand's in Aaron Rodgers-like times and his release speed and arm strength is Jay Cutler-esque. Seriously, have you seen the velocity of his throws? Sometimes it looks like his receivers can't handle it. I guess that's what happens when your QB used to be a NCAA pitcher. I also think they will slaughter the overrated Falcons. Don't get me wrong, the Falcons are an elite team, but they aren't as good in my opinion as the other top contenders in this year's playoffs. Their defense is excellent in scoring defense to middling to average in other categories, suggesting they have a Lovie Smith-esque "bend but don't break" philosophy and excellent red zone defense. They problem with that is Kap's Niners are lethal in the redzone and, if the Falcons make it to the SB, Brady's Pats are even more lethal in the redzone. Part of this is the up tempo attack, which has been described by some players as "almost illegal" -- it's not, it just shows absurdly great coaching and discipline in players to be able to set properly and snap the ball within a fraction of a second of being set, which catches defenses off guard. If anyone watched the Houston game, you could see at least a couple TDs occurred because Houston wasn't even ready for the snap and there were totally blown assignments, which allowed NE players to literally walk into the endzone. I think another aspect is psychological; it has to be frustrating to continuously give up yards because the other team is marching downfield before you're even ready to play. However, I think the Pats win their Niners rematch in the SB (bias note: I'm a Boston adopted son since I went to UG there). Remember, they almost overcame a 31-pt deficit behind four straight TD drives. Brady is a guy who holds grudges, he's going to gun for the kill right away to make up for that game and last year's SB loss. Even without Gronk, the Pats have too many weapons for the 49ers secondary to handle, especially if Vereen and Ridley show up big in the run game. If the Niners have to load the box, further hindering their famed pass rush, which has disappeared for the last few games, they will be really vulnerable to NE's passing attack. In contrast, the 49ers are very run dependent, and while the Pats secondary has been vulnerable to the big play, that's not really Kap or the Niners game plan. They run, run, and run some more behind Gore and Kap. I think besides a few big first downs, they're going to hit a brick wall with guys like Wilfork in the middle. That is one big man I would not want sitting on me. Plus, the Talib acquisition has been a tremendous upgrade at CB for the Pats. Him and Dennard look like a promising CB tandem in the future, not quite shutdown but with the potential to be like Tillman/Jennings. That said, I could see the Niners having some success in the air because their O-Line should be able to buy Kap some time; they're giants. Of course, anything can happen on any given Sunday. If it is 49ers-Pats, that should be an exciting SB. Better than a Harbaugh family feud imo (sorry Ravens fans). I don't give the Ravens much of a chance. Their best hope is to go into the vertical passing game and try to expose the Pats secondary, but like I said, it's a lot better than the start of the season (the whole defense is a lot better), when the Ravens barely squeaked out a 1pt game thanks to the replacement refs. Torrey Smith is probably the most dangerous player for the Ravens, but I imagine Talib will fare better than Champ Bailey's shocking implosion last week. If they can hold him to one TD or less, I don't think the Ravens have enough offensive talent.

Good luck to all on current interviews/recruitment weekends and on any remaining apps. I wish there was someone else doing computational here, I feel like a loner.

I'm very happy the Pack got hammered too. Kaepernick looks like a future superstar in the league. As for Peyton, I want to lay the blame on John Fox... I can understand why they didn't go for it on 3rd down in the second to last series in regulation... even if you don't get the down, running it burns another 40s off the clock, though I'd have gone for it b/c you know, I hear that Peyton guy is pretty good. But what was unforgivable was taking a knee with 31 seconds left and TWO timeouts. It's not like they had to get a TD either, marching downfield just 40 yards is a long but not impossible FG... and instead, they take a knee and let the clock run out in regulation. I kind of wondered if Peyton was secretly hurt, since his throws didn't seem to have very much zip during the OT.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jan/12/aaron-swartz-heroism-suicide1 This is to me extremely tragic, avoidable, and begs the question: Why was it such a big deal to convict him as a felon, when he didn't commit really any crimes? A truly terrible waste of life and talent, and I am frankly ashamed of the DOJ and MIT's respective roles in this fiasco.

Well, that's not really a CV anymore. While a resumé may list work experiences, a CV is purely academic in nature.

I kind of disagree. If you feel the CV doesn't provide much compared to what's already in your SOP, isn't it rather redundant? I would submit it only if it showed a lot of important stuff that wasn't in your SOP. Additionally, to be safe, you can always check the school's stance on supplementary materials. I know that a number of schools I applied to said explicitly NOT to send them anything they didn't ask for, and Berkeley in particular put in all caps and bold, "DO NOT SEND YOUR CV."

Pretty much anywhere you get into for your PhD, you'll be fully covered and get a stipend.

Pretty much what the above posters said. But as an aside, that's pretty cool that you guys are finding success!

Ah, cool, I guessed as much since your list is very Boston-area heavy.

Did you by any chance to go Wellesley?

Ah, sorry to hear that. If it's any consolation, people hate Alabama a lot more now. Good luck with your applications, hope you get some good news soon.

I'd just be dead.

You should email to check. I didn't apply to ACCESS, but after getting an email on the 20th, I didn't hear anything since then so I emailed and a few hours later, I got another email with travel arrangements, etc.