Biohopeful

Got my Purdue rejection. About time.

Awesome! I interviewed there a couple years ago. I can tell you want my interviews were like. I was waitlisted, and didn't get in, but I think that all worked out for the best.

I interviewed with the school last weekend. It seems like such a quick response for an interest.

Sometimes, but sometimes I think they're the last ones (due to funding and whatnot). Purdue doesn't have much information in general about their Biology program on here in the results search, but I would've thought I'd hear something by now. I got a cryptic email from a school I interviewed with asking me to rank my top 3 faculty interests in order. I'm not sure if I could interpret this as an acceptance or what. I was expecting something along the lines of accepted, waitlisted, or rejected. And this email is so soon, so I wonder if they sent it to everyone.

Uh oh... I hope everyone's safe! Congrats to everyone who's been accepted so far! The applicant who got an interview at Purdue is an international student. Since it's so late in the game, I'm not holding my breath at this point. I'm assuming unofficial waitlist or something to that degree.

I've heard nothing from Purdue. I did see one rejection on the results search, and my file still says "under review". Maybe they forgot about us all together? I was thinking of contacting them after I come back this weekend. I leave for my first interview today. I'm excited and nervous. We'll see how it goes! Good luck to everyone!

Everyone seems really nice thus far. I wish I had more insight into their interview weekends and how many people are admitted afterwards. It seems like a lot of it based on fit, and whether there are faculty there who have the funds and are willing to take on students who are interested in their research. Even so, I'm really nervous. I'm a terrible interviewer. And thank you for posting that, mybiologyblog! I'm glad you found a place that you'll be happy to attend. I'm still sitting here, after applying to "only" 6 schools, wondering if I should have applied to more. But in the end, it's quality of quantity.

Yeah, I would definitely opt for the rotation route. In any case, I think they're looking for new recruits from the interview pool who fit their interests; something I'm taking as great news, and I hope I'm able to impress them a bit (especially since the research is up my alley). Good luck on your interviews!

This is for Notre Dame. I've never experienced anything like this before, but it's making me more excited and anxious for the interviews, and excited to meet with the faculty. Here, students have the option of doing 2 rotations or matriculating under a specific faculty member who can support them. My other programs require rotations, etc.

So for one of my upcoming interviews, a couple faculty from the program have contacted me about their research, available graduate student positions, and that they are looking forward to meeting with me when I visit. Is this a standard procedure? These are faculty that share similar research interests with me, so I'm assuming they have at least looked at parts of my application. I'm not sure how to interpret this. Is this different from an adcomm member interviewing you? It sounds like a panel of admissions committee members, like you already indicated.

Well, a variety of factors will affect your chances at any of those schools. If you have time to retake, you should, but if you don't, nothing is stopping you from applying to them. The GRE is the least important factor of an application. A bad score can keep you out of some programs, but an outstanding score isn't going to get you in. Experience, letters of rec, and your SOP are going to pull a lot of weight. I would look at average GRE, statistics, etc for the programs you're interested in. I think you should still try. If you're really worried and not too concerned with top programs, you can always cast a wider net and apply to more "safety schools".

Congrats, everyone!!

Yeah. Same here. I'm thinking Northwestern is a rejection at this point for me, since I haven't heard anything. I don't know what's going on with Purdue.

I would talk to your research advisers to see what is available. Does your university of a BBB chapter? I know they hold regional and national conferences. There's also the National Conference on Undergraduate Research (which I think that's what you're referring to) and Council on Undergraduate Research (more competitive). Also look into regional conferences for Ecology and Evolution Biology, or anything related to your research, and see if you have enough data to present at those. If you have the time, I would investigate opportunities for teaching assistantships as an undergraduate. Otherwise, I think everything looks good.

If your worry is your GPA, I would look into taking some graduate courses. My understanding is that most schools have a 3.0 GPA requirement for their grad programs because students must maintain a B average to stay enrolled in the program. They want to make sure you can handle graduate coursework and have a strong background in your field. On that note, I would go for the 1 year program for the biotechnology masters.

From what I understand, when most faculty interviewers discuss their research it's more like a conversation than anything. They should have everything on file in front of them. Would it look bad if I opted against bringing any sort of notebook or that? Should I bring a small one to look professional just in case? I don't like the idea of sitting there, whipping out a notepad, and jotting down notes as the faculty are enthusiastically telling me about their research, though. Panel discussions and presentations I attend are a different story, however.

trickster: I saw someone who applied to Purdue Biological Sciences was rejected. I wonder if we'll hear something soon? I haven't heard anything from Purdue and my application status still says "Under Review".

The MCDB program is under general Biological Sciences, so not GEMS. Hang in there! I haven't heard anything regarding GEMS. Good luck! You're a trooper. 3 interviews 3 weekends in a row is already putting me into a panic.

University of Illinois-Chicago interview (MCDB)! This is one of my top choices, so I'm really excited. Interview dates seem to be the 15th and the 22nd. I'll be taking the earlier date. I was informed over the phone.

Congrats! Is this for masters or PhD at Loyola?

Congrats!!! When are your other interviews?

Yikes... they'd really do something like that? :| Still, a 3.74 is pretty impressive!

I would start applying in mid-March to early April for lab tech positions. It can sometimes take up to a month, if not more for the hiring process and associated paperwork to go through. Lab positions are always open, but I would apply earlier to beat the rush of other graduates looking for positions. Universities will have them posted on the university website under careers/employment, so I would browse those, and also look at websites for companies in the area to see if they have any openings. Sometimes these jobs will be cross-listed onto more general websites like indeed.com or monster, so I would browse these sites as well. Good luck!

Congrats!

Are there any opportunities to help out with teaching at your school? If you can get a LOR from someone who supervised you as a lab aide or undergraduate TA, that would help out as well. I know research is your focus, but depending on the school you matriculate into you'll likely have to work as a TA for a semester or two, so any teaching/tutoring experience you can get now will certainly help you out with that. It doesn't matter as much who writes a LOR for you, as long as they can attest to your abilities to succeed in graduate school and speak on your behalf, you should be fine. If you do want to have that professor write a LOR for you, I would suggest getting to know him better so he can write more than the typical "she got an A in my class...etc etc".