Crucial BBQ

1.  These days I would expect Zoom, but some still do in-person on campus.  If you can't find the info on the website, email the program[s] and ask how they are doing interviews this year.  
2.  Business casual at most.  Ties would be optional, but you likely might be the only one wearing one.  
3.  These types of interviews are informal.  They are a chance for you to get to know them (and other students both potential and current), and for them to get to know you.  Ignore whatever interview prep advice you may have heard.  The 'interview' is going to mostly consists of you and them talking about science, research interests, and that sort of thing.  But ask them questions!  Ask about mentoring style.  Ask students who is cool and who is the jerk you want to avoid.  That sort of stuff.  Try and get a general vibe of the program. 
4.  Can't say most, but yeah.  The general consensus is that if you are invited to interview you are pretty much in.  Not always, though.  They may think you are psycho once they meet you, or that something about you in-person doesn't match up with your application.  Or they may be interviewing a few more people than they have space for.  You might also think the program, after all, sucks and it is not for you. 

A good number of people in marine biology come zoology, biology, ecology, a few from statistics, and others here and there.  
One of my professors during undergrad has his Ph.D. in ecology, is all about animal behavior and studies deer and migratory birds.  He also studies jellyfish and considers himself to be a marine biologist.  

You post a lot of info here, so I might be able to touch on it all.  
Off the bat, you already have a solid background so no need for the NIH postbacc unless you specifically want to do biomedical or chem-med.  Doing it simply for the LOR is a waste of your time, the potential PIs time, and you may take a spot from someone who legitimately needs the postbacc.  You already have 'plenty to talk about in your SOP' and it is perfectly acceptable for a third letter to be from a professor. 
Ph.D. programs are internships.  They are on-the-job training with the goal of training you to do things the way that they do them; one reason why fit is so important.  "Perfect' applicants say nothing about their ability to be trained, only that they test well.  Not all applicants have published papers (to be frank, this pretty rare for those applying straight from undergrad), and the average amount of research ranges from one summer to one year.   Ph.D. students drop out all the time and for a variety of reasons, one of which is the realization that they ultimately do not like doing research (because it is different than from what they thought it would be).  That is the whole point for having research experience prior to applying to grad school, so that you know the ins and outs and can see yourself doing nothing else for a career. You don't have to produce anything, it is all about the experience, and I know this may sound odd but that second research experience of yours was not a failure.  It's likely to not only be a strength to your application, but a very strong one at that.  Screwing up in research and other setbacks are common and good lessons to learn before you embark on a Ph.D.  Instead of looking at this as a failure, reframe it as a lesson learned. 
You took Calc I and II just so you could take PChem, after deciding to double-major knowing it would add a year to your program!  How many other applicants do you think did that?  Or would do something like?  Close to zero.  This alone puts you a head of the rest as it shows drive and passion.  
Your typical applicant, even those accepted into top programs, have pretty much average undergraduate careers.  That is to say they took (and only took) the required courses for their programs with an elective or two out of interests (but still within their field), did perhaps one (or two) summer REUs, and got good grades and GRE scores.  Obviously, they wrote a good SOP and had good LORs (with one or two of them likely being from professors, not research PIs).  

Yes, because it is not relevant.  Ideally your SOP will be structured in such a way that readers are given the sense it was intended for them and should they extend an offer you would accept.  

I have been wanting to blog around here for about 5 years now yet kept on missing the windows...
Not sure which topic I fall under as I am one of the oldest members around here.  As such, I have a different take on the application process and on both life before and after graduate school.  Granted, I have yet to graduate from grad school myself, am currently in an MS program, and will be applying to Ph.D. programs next year, I have been out in the world for longer than, well, a long time.  I also have had to navigate through both undergrad and now an MS program largely on my own with zero help (including financial) from family and/or friends.  I have a lot to talk about.   

Not to be cheeky, but why did you apply to your list of programs in the first place?  I mean, don’t you have reasons for each program?   
For myself, I looked at location and selected programs in areas that I was already familiar with, or did extensive research into the area. I also dug deep into programs looking for anything I could find over what I might expect if I were in attendance. I read student handbooks, blog posts, personal websites, social media, newsletters, and so on. 
I too have found that most students and faculty will stick to saying good things about the program, so why not ask them directly?  It’s okay to ask if there is anything they don’t like about the program or a particular advisor. You can also ask what students do in their free time or what ECs they may be involved in. Doing so will also give you a good idea into the nature of the program.  

I also applied to UDel and currently live in Maryland... where if I get in and go, I would likely still live in Maryland if possible. 

Thank you! Yes, that and I am still considered as an international student. Most of the top Biophysics programs use NIH training grants to cover funding for students, which are limited to citizens and residents. I cannot complain as the selection of international students are a privilege.  Hopefully, I get my Greencard by the next cycle. My lawyer told me that I have enough citations to file. Most probably, I would see you guys at future Biophysical Society meetings!

BTW, I’m 39 and I’m starting grad school! ???

You simply write an email briefly explaining who you are and why you are contacting.  Briefly include a little bit about why their research excites you and how it matches to what you want to do.  Keep it brief.  Mention you are applying to X Program and Y University for Z Year and politely inquire if they are taking on students (for Z Year).  Then conclude with something like "If you are, would you be willing to further discuss this?"  Do not be long-winded and keep the ball in their court: do not be pushy.  
 
Do not ask if they have funding. You will come across as arrogant.  But, really by asking if they are taking on new students is asking if they have funding.  However, just because a particular professor does not have funding does not mean that you will not be funded.  Some programs offer institutional grants, fellowships, scholarships, etc. and you will not know if you get these until after you apply.  If such aid is offered, it will be mentioned on the[ir] website.  
 
I disagree with your last sentence, but this is just my opinion. 
 
I would not mention this to professors during initial contact.  Now, if your proposal was accepted, or if even you were a runner up (but no award), that would be different.  The whole point of these NSF proposals--and that is what they are, research proposals--is to demonstrate that you have the ability to formulate an idea and write a proposal.  That is it.  You do not even have to do the proposal and the proposal itself may not even be doable but it does need to be novel. You do not need an "NSF advisor" and it is advised that you do not try to seek one out although it might help to ask if your proposal is properly formatted and/or thought through.  
 
The guidelines, examples, and most everything else can be found here:
 
http://www.nsf.gov/publications/pub_summ.jsp?ods_key=gpg
 
 Not to sound confusing, but it would be okay to mention that you submitted the proposal to the NSF after you have submitted it.  Do not make the assumption that you will develop a conversation with these professors/POIs.  It would be best if you can make an appointment to swing by their office (or you can just make a cold call as I once did.  I just happened to be in that town for other reasons and decided at the last minute to pop in and say "hello".  I ended up not applying but I did get a ton of awesome advice).  Realistically, you are going to shoot off your emails and then wait....perhaps to a month...before you receive a reply...if they even bother to reply.  And sometimes the reply is a simple "When are you applying and to what program?"  Uh...wasn't that in my initial email...?
 
As for multiple grants from different schools...as far as I know, no.  Some universities collaborate with other universities, and some departments or individual researchers do as well, but they also compete for funding.  I highly doubt a professor at one school is going to fund you while you are also being funded by another professor from a "competing" school even if you are working with the both of them.  You may collaborate with the two, but one of the profs is going to spend his cash on another student.  

It's only the schools that are members of the Graduate School Consortium, which is most of them.  Some programs will still try to push you to make a decision before 4/15, though.  
Prior to 2020, offers that came with funding were difficult to withdraw from (just lengthy, not impossible).  Because of Covid-19, the GSC had made it easier to withdraw an acceptance before and after the 4/15 deadline.  Hard to know if this change will continue into 2022 and beyond, but it is still an option for 2021.  
Yes, informing the program of your decision ASAP is the best policy.  
*edit*
https://cgsnet.org/april-15-resolution 

It's only the schools that are members of the Graduate School Consortium, which is most of them.  Some programs will still try to push you to make a decision before 4/15, though.  
Prior to 2020, offers that came with funding were difficult to withdraw from (just lengthy, not impossible).  Because of Covid-19, the GSC had made it easier to withdraw an acceptance before and after the 4/15 deadline.  Hard to know if this change will continue into 2022 and beyond, but it is still an option for 2021.  
Yes, informing the program of your decision ASAP is the best policy.  
*edit*
https://cgsnet.org/april-15-resolution 

As an aside, University of Delaware has rolling admissions for Bioinformatics with the latest priority deadline being April 15th, iirc.  Currently, the GRE requirement is waived as well. 

I had written about this previously... back in 2014 I believe.  I was waitlisted to one program, then ultimately denied.  I reached out and was told that my GPA was a little low but I had solid experiences (research, field work, volunteer work...) and a few skills they liked (like small boat handling).  I was told it was between me and another applicant and the other applicant got the admit for having slightly higher GRE scores.   Another program told me it was not completely clear in my SOP why I wanted grad school and they were also baffled that I did not mention a low grade (a C-) in my SOP, either.  
For the program I was waitlisted to I called the advisor I was in contact with and for the other program I had called the program director.  

If you were to do an in-person interview would you bring an easel and posters?  I am not being cheeky here, but if you feel it may be difficult to talk about past research without visual aids I suggest to start practicing mock interviews to the question Tell me about your past research. 
The interview is just that, an interview.  You won't be giving any speeches.  Your past research is indicated on your CV, likely discussed in your SOP, and (hopefully) reinforced by an LOR or two.  You likely will not go in-depth over past research and in reality who ever is interviewing you won't care that much about it beyond that you did it, that you loved it, and that you want to do it for a living (but not necessarily the same research or the same project). 
 

Don’t feed trolls. They have a unique combination of being generally attention needy and ubiquitously putative.
 

Hard to say, but pretty high.  In general a few more students are going to be accepted knowing that not all invites are going to say yes.   

Got Interview at Tri -I  CBM !! my top choice !!!

Just got UChicago GGSB email, as well. Congrats to everyone on all of the exciting updates!!
Penn State Bioinformatics and Genomics [interview request 12/7] UPenn GCB [interview request 12/8] Princeton QCB [interview request 12/11] UChicago GGSB [interview request 12/16] Harvard BBS  Harvard Human Evolutionary Biology UW Genome Sciences UCLA Bioinformatics UC Berkeley CCB Stanford Biology UCSC PBSE-BMEB UCSF BMI UNC GDBBS Emory PBEE

You can get a general vibe by reading the student handbook associated with program[s].  Another thing you might do is email students in the program/lab and ask them directly.   I did this in the past and got good results; sent out about 90 emails and had received about 70 responses.  No joke.  Yeah, it's tedious but you are looking at potentially spending 5 - 7 years in a new location, doing your research on the program is imperative. 
Professors/PIs are also pretty honest.  What I didn't realize until I was in my MS program is that graduate school puts emphasis on extending invites (interviews) and admits to those deemed most likely to say yes.  Resources are going to be invested to bring, and keep you, in the program for half a decade or longer.  No one wants to waste their time, or yours. Because of this it is also worth your time to get in touch with professors, PIs, program directors, etc. before you get an interview.  Ask them if they are willing to chat about the program and their lab/research.  Like with students, you might be surprised at how many faculty are willing (and excited) to talk about the program and/or their own research with you. 
Not all interviews are on-campus.  Even before Covid-19, some interviews were over the phone or Skype.  Some programs do not interview at all and of those that do you could still be admitted without an interview.  Other programs may also invite students to the campus after they are admitted, whether they had an interview or not.  

I have been associated with higher education in the U.S. in one way or another for a decade and it is in my experience that no professor (or anyone, really) who agrees to write an LOR does so with the intention of written a bad LOR.  If they feel they cannot recommend you for any reason they will simply decline.  If a potential letter-writer does not remember you, or does not remember you well, it is common for them to ask for additional information from you to help them write their letter.  
Grad school is about doing research.  Ironically, your work ethic has nothing to do with that as it says nothing inherent about your ability to do research let alone if you actually like doing research. People skills also ranks fairly low.  
I would look at your program(s), or if in doubt, call the program coordinator and ask.  From my experiences it is okay to have at least one LOR from a non-academic source.  However, those sources should still be able to speak on your potential ability to do research.  
I suggest that you contact past professors first before using one of your managers.  However, if one of your managers has also attended grad school that could be a plus.  

In reality, the opposite.  Trying to decide on multiple offers is not as easy as it seems.  Those who receive only one offer are the lucky ones in my opinion. 

The nature of GradCafe, things get mixed.  Examples of this include those interested in marine biology posting to Earth Sciences and those interested in bioinformatics or computational biology posting to Computer Science or even Medical.  Those interested in ecology may be at a lost.  
As most will likely know, bioinformatics programs may be housed in a variety of schools/departments, and sometimes even within the same university (school of medicine, CS department, biology department, cell/molecular, etc.).  Bioinformatics cast a wide umbrella over 10 or subject areas and with most things turning to 'informatics and 'omics these days, likely more.  As someone with an MS in bioinformatics I strongly encourage you to know what type of bioinformatics you want to study before you apply anywhere.  
My background is marine biology with a solid mix of Interdisciplinary studies thrown in (chemistry and biology).  I have an MS in bioinformatics.  My interest, as you may guess, is to combine the two for a Ph.D. 
Where I am applying/applied:
University of Maine.
University of Maryland, MEES.
University of Rhode Island.
University of New Hampshire. 
Brown. 
Maybe University of Delaware.  
 

For the marketplace, this is likely to be dependent on the degree.  MBAs, most likely.  Ph.D. in marine biology, not so much. 
I am a bit older (much older, perhaps?) and saw this tendency towards graduate school hit full-force around 2010 as a consequence of the recession during that time.  This was the first time in my life when I saw people older than myself going back to school for MS degrees and the occasional Ph.D. in large numbers.  The reason, it seemed, was a combination of the desire to earn more money and achieve the type of job security it was believed could only come from a higher degree.  This time also saw undergrads deciding to stay in school by pursuing graduate degrees to either stave of repayment of loans and/or to put some distance between their graduation date and an improved economy. 
Certainly there are those out there who believe that the degree combined with the name of the school is the path to a comfy life,  but some also believed the same with undergraduate institutions during the 2000s.  

I am old (well, one of the older members of this forum) and remember 2008 very well. 
 
In 2008 I had decided to go back to school.  I had already went to school earlier in life for Film, then switching to Screenwriting... only to have dropped out right before my senior year because I felt I had learned enough. And that despite being in a Screenwriting program we still had film some of our projects, which back then was at a cost of about $300/minute.   Yes, film.  The cost did include developing the film and of course sometimes the lab messed up and your footage was ruined, or you didn't get the shot.  The capstone project was to be a 30 minute screenplay and short.  
In 2008 things were not that bad.  In 2009 things started to get hectic which lasted until around 2013.  Undergraduate institutions received more applications and competition increased, sure, but it was grad schools that had become flooded.  This was also around the time when it became really popular to apply to MIT, Harvard, Stanford, and so on, both for undergrad and grad.  It was mostly with MS programs and in part because graduating undergrads wanted to stave off student loan repayment as they were graduating into a weak economy but it was mostly older adults hoping that an MS would give them job security and/or more earning potential.  Ph.D. programs, too, saw an uptick in applications although I remember acceptances had dropped.  Universities had put a halt on hiring and professors looking to retire stayed around a little bit longer.  Community colleges, on the other hand, were hiring and many it seemed to even expand.   
Public schools lost a lot of funding but private institutions fared fairly well, iirc. Tuition also started to go up dramatically around this time, I believe.  For academic research I want to say that it was the Humanities hit the hardest.  
However, there was no world-wide pandemic.  It's still too early to tell how the 2020/2021 admissions cycle, funding, or job outlook will be affected.