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Committed to UCSD It was so much harder to turn down offers than I thought it would be, I know it's part of the process but I couldn't help but worrying about profs and program directors taking it personally. But now the process of submitting housing applications and planning the moving in road trip has made me realize how excited I am for moving (across the country) to SD. Hopefully be seeing a few of you there, and good luck to everyone!

^I talked to a current student who said it will still be running, its just being combined with another route.

Officially committed to the neuro program last Friday! So excited to move to SD

Duke Pros: Good weather (hot summers, as noted), great basketball team if you like sports, 4 hours from Asheville or Boone (for hiking/skiing), 1.5-2 hours from the beach, 2.5 hours from Charlotte, 25 minutes from Raleigh, 10 from Chapel Hill. Chapel Hill is a great college town, Raleigh gets big names in music, lots of good dive bars, etc. Really not very conservative in Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, the population is chock full of academic types. Chapel Hill is known for being very liberal, while Raleigh is probably the most conservative. Many people in the area come from all over the country, and moved there because there is alot of great science and research happening in Research Triangle Park. If you are at all interested in going into Industry, RTP is a great area to be in. I'm not sure Cornell can beat the connections you would make there. Durham is very affordable. If diversity is a concern to you Durham is extremely diverse, I don't know anything about Ithaca but most places I've been to in upstate NY are not so much. GREAT FOOD. Cons: Can be dangerous if you're not careful. Hot summers, as noted above. @ zabius- there are alot of "non-academics" who forget dartmouth, cornell, upenn are Ivy league, and think MIT, Stanford, etc are. I don't think it's a big deal. Depending on where you want to work, regional recognition may matter. But with schools like Duke and Cornell, it's really a non-issue as your guaranteed national, if not international, recognition.

I've heard spending more than $10 is seen as a little... much. A nice 6 pack of beer or a bottle of wine, a fun book about whatever subject they/you are in, chocolate, these things always work. If you are artistic, I always hand-draw them a thank you card, seems to go over well.

Wrapping it all up... Applied to Neuroscience Programs, sub-field of Computational/Systems School: Big Public GPA: ~3.8 GRE: 98% Q Research Experience: 1 summer REU, 1 year in wet lab, 1 semester in psychology lab Applied: Duke, Vanderbilt, UCSD, Columbia, MIT, Stanford Accepted: Duke, Vanderbilt, UCSD, Columbia Attending: UCSD

Pretty interesting results! Funding wins by a landslide.

Overall name recognition matters very little when talking about a specific field. Keep that in mind and look for research match/an area/ cohort you would be happy in.

Grad students at UCSD said that although stuff is spread out, since it's always so nice outside it's actually pretty nice to get out of lab if just to go ask someone a question. I felt like they had a pretty good community going on. I would email profs with your interest though. From your description it seems you like JHU, and I think Baltimore is getting safer.

Ice storms really don't happen that often...

I'm about to do this; I wonder if I should call or email

I don't think it should be a factor that stops you from going to this school if you like everything else about it. However, personally; I'm from a warm area, but spent many years in Boston and a couple years in (a cold part of) Utah. I have to say that at the time it seemed even fun at times, but looking back its pretty obvious how unhappy I was. This is a personal thing; I love hiking, kayaking, etc, and when half of the year is too cold to go outside, I think this made me very stir crazy. If you're an "outdoorsy" type, it may be worth it to look at your other options. If not, go for it.

Of course, but there's gonna be one or two things that you just can't do without, or are important enough that they put one program above another. For me, institutional rankings and even department rankings were negligible, along with stipend (although all offers are funded w/stipend in my field). I am having to make the choice between 2 schools, one with one really groundbreaking prof and the other with several good ones. I see myself going with the several. Plus, looks like people voted for a little over 4 of the choices on average, so far.

What are the 2 or 3 most important factors for you in making this decision? I have a feeling they differ pretty widely from person to person, so let's find out!

Haha, I meant as in people that work with monkeys. I think there are some more at Salk but only one that I can think of at UCSD. Just a random thing I noticed when I was there.

Don't know your subfield but here's my impression of ucsd + work/life balance, weather, good systems/computational, Salk, scripps, rapidly growing area for biotech, good for allergies, pet friendly, cheap(ish) grad housing - traffic, expensive, la jolla isn't the most exciting place, not many monkey people if you're interested in that, no snow, grad housing isn't dog friendly

Same thing with me! Its basically a choice between program with young, well educated PIs, or the established program that educated them!

Would have applied to a school I always saw myself going to, but let a prof convince me they don't have enough research output. Looking back, the prof isn't in my subfield and went to a rival school! But in the end, very happy.

Unnecessary!

Did you take any relevant classes during undergrad?

Not in dentistry, but generally to even "break into" being a faculty member at a research institution (as schools with big hospitals tend to be) it seems you have to have extensive research experience first: hence the extra 3-5 year postdoc described above. You still have time to make this decision. Think about what you really like doing, not some lofty end goal (dean) that, if it happens, won't occur for at least 40 years. Life has a way of working itself out if you're true to your gut.

Yea, actually school Bs cost of living is maybe half that of school As Good advice, I guess it really comes down to looking at where PIs place people, which is hard because both schools have like 10 people I could work with and who knows who I will actually end up working with! (A good problem to have) Are prestigious fellowships on your CV pretty important?

I know this isn't in your area, but I found it helpful http://cseweb.ucsd.edu/~mihir/phd.html

^^ Just FYI, 3 chapel hill students have died so far this academic year. It's safe, but really no place with more wealthy kids who get too drunk is safe enough... Durham does have more crime than Chapel Hill, but I would imagine the reason you hear about less crime now in the city you are is precisely because it is a big city. Durham is a smaller community, hence you hear more about whats going on.

Duke and Columbia acceptances!