budgie

Just accepted my offer into Biomedical Engineering today!!!! Super stoked

Undergrad Institution: UCSD (very good reputation for BME/BioE) Major(s): Bioengineering:Biotechnology Overall GPA: 3.90 Length of Degree: I was a community college transfer student, so this is a complicated question, lol Position in Class: Top 5% Type of Student: Domestic female GRE Scores: Q: 159 V: 158 W: 4.5 Research Experience: 8 months in biosensors lab, 8 months senior design project. Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Leadership in BMES, TBP, and member of EWH. Pertinent Activities or Jobs: TA position in introductory bioengineering course Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Spent summer 2012 studying abroad at Cambridge University Applied for PhD at: Caltech - Rejected University of Michigan, Ann Arbor - Interviewed, then Rejected University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) - Interviewed, then Accepted University of California, San Diego (UCSD) - Interviewed, then Accepted Cornell - Accepted Attending: CORNELL !!! Overall, I feel that I've been really successful this application cycle and I'm very happy with all the options I was given. It was hard to choose, but I decided to go to the school that impressed me the most during the recruitment weekend with their research, environment, and resources. Message me if you'll also be attending Cornell in the fall, I'm thinking that I'll set up a Facebook meet and greet page =]

I'm having such a difficult time deciding between two schools, my gut tells me Cornell and they have the research I want to do, but I worry that not choosing the school with the higher ranking will affect my trajectory into academia and I also worry that I would regret not living in an awesome city like Seattle. Here are the facts: UW - ranked very highly in BioE; 6th in the nation (out of 75 ranked schools) - good research fit - would likely work in large lab with well-known PI - established department - higher cost of living - stipend is ~$5k less than Cornell's.. - Seattle is an amazing city - class size of ~30 PhD students - very good departmental organization and opportunities to earn dual degrees and/or certifications (very cool!) Cornell - ranked highly in BME; 20th in the nation (out of 75 ranked schools) - near-perfect research fit - would likely work in small lab with well-known PI - new department (created 2004) - lower cost of living - really nice stipend - Ithaca is a cute town - class size of ~10 PhD students - most NSF fellowships awarded this year of all BME programs (7 out of 15 first years were awarded! Pretty impressive.) In terms of entering into academia post-PhD, do you think program rank even matters if my advisor would be someone well-known in the field? Is the rank difference even significant between 6th and 20th out of 75? Any advice will gladly be heard, thanks!

I was rejected post-interview from UMich. I've gotten in everywhere else I've interviewed and can garuntee that I'm not a weirdo and I didn't do or say anything inappropriate or taboo at my interview. I think the rejection was due to not having a great research fit with the PI's I interviewed with and limited space/funding in the specific labs I was interested in. I don't take it personally, because it was more than apparent to me that I had better fits at other universities I interviewed at.

Look into factors like: 1. Proximity to industry, 2. Tuition fees, 3. Cost of living, 4. Length of Program, 5. Number of students expected to matriculate (I'd imagine the class size at UMich is much larger than at Cornell), 6. Your gut feeling.

A few schools got back to me really late, and the longer I waited, the more I assumed I was going to be rejected. I found myself nitpicking the programs that made me wait longer more so than the ones who got back quickly. If you're able to not feel different about the school you're waiting for, how do/did you keep yourself excited about the program while accepting the fact that you still may be rejected?

Any speculation about when we'll hear back?

I also somewhat regret applying to my undergrad institution. As much as I love it there, before I submitted my application my gut told me that I should venture to new territory and my it still tells me the same thing today. I didn't listen to myself early on, and now I must 'break-up' with my current PI after playing with the fantasy of me staying. Life would be so much easier if I could just transplant him from my current institution to another university of my choosing.

I regret being so worried about my mediocre GRE scores and being so vocal about it. Many of my friends with better gpa's and better GRE scores ended up faring worse than me in this process, and now I just feel bad for telling them not to worry.

As I laid in bed with my eyes barely open, I grabbed my iPhone to start my day off with a podcast as I usually do and while doing this, my tired eyes saw the blurry subject line of that fateful email. I had to do a double take to make sure I had read the screen correctly, then I immediately popped out of bed and went prancing around my apartment in a fit of glee.

I think they interview ~45, admit ~30, and expect to matriculate ~15-20.

For the PhD program, interviews were done on Feb 15-16 and Feb 22-23. If you live in the US and did not get an interview invite, I'm almost certain that a PhD offer from UCSD is not in your future (might be different for international students), BUT if you haven't received a rejection yet, they may be considering you for the Masters program and hopefully you'll hear back soon, for better or worse.

Most people pay out of pocket for masters programs, that's how many schools make a good chunk of money. Some schools offer funding for top applicants into their masters programs, but it's rare. PhD programs are funded because as a PhD student, you work for the school in terms of research (they own your thesis) and teaching responsibilities (TA-ing). Masters programs are usually not funded because most masters programs are coursework-based, and thus you are not doing work for the school, but they are working for you. This is my understanding, correct me if I'm wrong.

I know nothing about it, but that's absolutely the coolest title anyone in engineering can ever have, ever.

I've been blogging about my BME/BioE interview adventures and will soon be writing about the pains in trying to come to a final decision. If you want to join me in my adventures and pain (as they probably parallel yours), check it out and say hello if you see me in Seattle: http://gradinterviewadventures.wordpress.com/

I was admitted to Cornell on a Sunday. Even though you're more likely to hear back on a weekday, there's still reason to obsess over your email on the weekends ;D

If you were also accepted to other programs with more generous stipends, you can ask if the institution you're interested is willing to match the stipend offered to you from another university. Remember, they picked you to come to their school. They want you to accept and are often willing to fight for you =]

UCSD has really good industry connections since it's located in the heart of a biotech hub

I did not apply to this program, but generally MS offers go out a littler later than PhD offers, so keep holding hope. You could call/email the graduate affairs officer for the ECE department to see if they're going to release decisions anytime soon. Good luck.

I want to hear more of this story

I went to UMich interviews, and was wait listed. Keeping my fingers crossed.

I figured since I have flights to different cities across the US (an adventure on its own) and I'd eventually need a hand in making the decision of where to go, that I'd track my journey and thought processes in a blog. Anyone else? I'd love to read about how others are going about this, give us a link. I'm horrid when it comes to making absolute decisions, there will be drama: http://gradinterviewadventures.wordpress.com/

I attend UCSD as an undergraduate in bioengineering and am familiar with the bioinformatics program. It's huge at UCSD and very multi-disciplinary; many of the faculty in bioinformatics are also faculty members in bioengineering, biological sciences, and/or in the med school. I know nothing of BU, but I do know the fact that UCSD has a med school on site and is opening a clinical research hospital soon, which makes it a pretty stellar place for implementing bioinformatics right now. If you have any questions about particular labs at UCSD, I may be able to give you some hearsay, PM me.

I have been admitted to Cornell's BME program, but this change was not reflected in the website for me. I received a detailed email from the department and a packet in the post about a week later.

I studied abroad at Cambridge last summer and fell in love with the UK. I almost chose to apply to PhD programs out there, but chose to stay in the states due to funding concerns and wanting to be near my family. BUT I still have a big itch to go back to the UK whenever possible. When/If I return to the UK, I'd prefer to make money while abroad through an internship, rather than studying abroad again and paying out of pocket, but I'm having issues finding programs that cater to people between undergrad to grad. I study biomedical engineering with a focus on biosensor technology, but I'd really take any internship relatively related to biomedical sciences or any field of engineering. I've come across programs through the Wellcome Trust, but these are made for students in the middle of their undergrad degree: http://www.wellcome.ac.uk/Funding/Biomedical-science/Funding-schemes/PhD-funding-and-undergraduate-opportunities/WTD004448.htm And I've come across many programs that are only valid if I already have a student visa. Does anyone know how I can find a way to get to the UK and get paid this summer? Or shall I start looking into study abroad options again?