epsilon

You have us.
Admittedly a bunch of [twitch] lunatics, but...

Harvard.

The choice of activities was kayaking, hiking, the zoo, or a brewery tour :D Also choice of on-campus or off-campus housing tour in the morning.

It seems you hardly adjust to your surrounding even in your own country.  After all, life is not just about good job with high pay or good university. You think too much on what you have or cant have. And you think too much on the major you are studying wont satisfy your professional goal.  And that's the price you pay for selecting something based on money not "fit". I too is an international student, I got an undergrad degree in US from not-well-known institution but I was working my best to get a six fig job here. I have no problem adjusting and never ever burn the "bridge". I say, chillax, and accept your choices which already have been made, do your best and have fun. The hard part of an adult life is to do what you dont like and be good at it. School will take you certain places, but it's your job to accomplish your goal.

Congrats epsilon! That's gotta feel great. Now the next possible challenge....choosing between programs

Just got accepted to a program where I am interviewing on March 1st.  Strange that they accepted me after they invited me to interview but before the interview.  But, hey, first acceptance!

At this time 2 years ago I was gearing up to fly around the country for my grad school interviews, and since I imagine many of you are nervously preparing for the same thing, I thought I'd share what happened to me to assure you that however your interviews go, it is highly unlikely any of them will get this weird. 
 
tl;dr during my grad school interview I suffered an acute attack of the same neurological disease I was studying. NPR's Radiolab did a short story on my experience which you can listen to here: http://www.radiolab.org/blogs/radiolab-blog/2011/aug/09/damn-it-basal-ganglia/
 
 
I was a tech at the time in a lab studying the basal ganglia (the part of the brain that controls movement) and what happens in the basal ganglia in movement disorders. The day before my final grad school interviews I became violently ill and went to my doctor where I was prescribed a strong anti-nausea medication. The next day, in the middle of my second interview, I began to feel a straining sensation in the muscles around my cheeks and ears. I attributed it to compensation for loose glasses that might have been slipping down my face, so several times during the interview I took my glasses off and pretended to be cleaning them while trying to tighten them.
 
After this interview all of the prospective students went to lunch with faculty and current students, and this is when I began to lose control of my neck. I felt my head spontaneously turning to the right and had difficulty facing forwards, so I positioned myself at a lunch table where I could face right and still carry on a conversation. Walking to my next interview I felt that not only was my neck turning right against my will, but that now it was tensing into a tight clench that forced my forehead to tilt dramatically back. As I began my third interview I explained to my interviewer that I was experiencing neck cramps and he acquired a hot pad to try to help me.
 
As I was holding the hot pad to my neck, and explaining my research into the loss of dopamine in the basal ganglia while trying to stifle spasms, I began to notice that I was losing control of my facial muscles. My eyebrows were tightly arched, and my mouth was stretched into an uncomfortably wide, grimacing smile, but no matter how hard I tried to send commands to my face ("forehead: relax!" "mouth: calm down!") I could not convince my face or neck to act normally. I was having a hard time processing what was happening to me, but I could see by the look on my interviewer's face that something was not right. As I was trying to explain to the admissions people that my face was acting funny, but that I was generally OK, I lost most control of my mouth and tongue and my speech slowed to a slur.
 
I was then rushed to the ER, where I was diagnosed with an acute dystonic reaction to my nausea medications. Here's where the irony kicks in: my dystonia was mediated by a blockage of the dopamine receptors in my basal ganglia - the exact mechanism that my lab was studying in mice. I was experiencing acute dystonia, for the first time, as I was explaining how and why I study dystonia for my graduate school interviews. Just thought you might get a kick out of that story (I'm fine now, by the way).
 
I also thought I'd share that I've been writing a website about branching out from academia - career profiles, tips, resources, Q&A's (I hope it's not bad form to post links?) which might be helpful/interesting to some of you: http://www.branchingpoints.com/

@sassypants


Just received my rejection email from them. A bummer for sure... with not too many other programs to go.

I really hope there is better news to come.

Applied:    5
Rejected:   2
Interviews: 0
Accepted:   0

ps: am I #1000? (edit: yes!)

first acceptance, feels so good to know I have a place to go

I never posted my stats, because, frankly, you all are pretty intimidatingly qualified ;o)

But, I'm home sick, and since I've been getting way more interest from grad schools than I expected, maybe I can give some hope to some low-GPA'd applicants who read through this thread for next year.

Undergrad Institution: State school in the midwest, well-regarded for STEM-field research
Major(s): Pharmaceutical Science (Med. chem. concentration)
Minor(s): English, Organizational Leadership, Chemistry
GPA in Major: school didn't calculate, but Cornell required me to calculate my science GPA, and it was well under 3.0.
Overall GPA: 3.08. I had a lot of fun in college.
Position in Class: No idea. Probably not good.
Type of Student: Domestic female, very very white

GRE Scores (revised version):
Q: 166
V: 168
W: 5.5
B: n/a

Research Experience: 4.5 years in a (nominally) med. chem. lab, mostly doing cancer biochemistry. One summer internship in pharma manufacturing. Nearly 5 years in Big Pharma (yes, I am old). Titular pharmacologist, but mostly do structural/bioanalytical chemistry.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: National Merit Scholar, a freshman research fellowship, undergrad research award.


Special Bonus Points: Three excellent LORs, from two work PIs and one undergrad research advisor.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I've been heading-up some cool new technology initiatives at work that make my CV a pretty respectable length, finally.

Applying to Where: A bunch of biochem/chem bio programs. Sig. will continue to be updated as I receive more results.

I doubt that you will get rejected from five schools based on your stats. If it is your 3rd choice, and you have the financial means to fly yourself there, then go for it.

Making blanket statements like this is rather silly. It's entirely dependent on your field and the programs. I've also been to three interview sessions so far and not a single person has worn a suit, and the one person I saw with a tie consistently looked out of place compared to everyone else. Jeans have also been worn by at least half of the people. Go with what you know about your own field, or better yet, simply ask your host or the people arranging your visit, it won't hurt, and it will give you better advice than agonizing over conflicting responses here.

I went to a conference in Washington DC and Orlando. I was good about spending the majority of my day going to different sessions and meeting people and making contacts. I must admit I got pretty wasted every night on both conferences. In DC I peed on at least a dozen national monuments.

Better to "find yourself" on someone else's dime than by taking out student loan debt (like the OP suggested) and then possibly not like where you end up.  Then, you would have some serious cash flow issues (to pay your loan payments) and possibly still not like what you're doing.  With loan payments, your career choices are even more limited since you can't take just any old (lower-paying) job.
 
The advantage of "finding yourself" before going to grad school is that it can help you achieve your career/life goals.  I personally switched fields from Engineering (which I didn't like and basically went into to please my parents, big mistake in hindsight) into the Environmental Sciences via a Master's Program.  In the years since my M.S. I have discovered that I enjoy this field so much that I now want to pursue a PhD.
 
Sure you might be able to find something fulfilling in grad school, but you could probably find that in almost any life path if you are that ambivalent about your goals in career/life.  Like the old saying goes:  if you don't know where you're headed, any road will take you there...

As promised, here is my interview experience. I must say that as nervous and anxious as I was, the overall experience wasn’t nearly as nerve-wracking as I had anticipated. In fact, I actually had a lot of fun!
 
My interview day consisted of five 35 minute interviews with faculty. Each interviewer was very different. I didn’t once feel as if I was being grilled, in fact, a couple even let me know that they were pretty bad at grilling!
 
One interview was with someone who was working on a topic that I am, so they knew a bit about my project, and asked about specific details, the overall goal of the project, and where it was going. They then asked about what I specifically wanted to focus on in graduate school. Then they gave me an overview on their research, and goals and expectations. I asked questions regarding the nature of the lab, who was in it, how much interaction that PI had in the lab, and they explained the nature of their lab, and we spent the rest of the time discussing the city, comparing it to my hometown, and he made a lot of suggestions on ways to get around and places to go. Was very low key, was actually like having a conversation with another person who just happened to be a scientist.
 
Another interviewer seemed like they read my file extensively, and knew what I did in undergrad and grad school. She asked me to give a brief overview of what I have been working on lately, and asked general questions along the way. [Make sure you know how to explain what you are doing, and WHY you are doing it!] She asked a lot of questions, but it wasn’t grilling, it was just an honest curiosity of what I have been doing, because she hadn’t heard of it before. She also asked what I wanted to focus on in graduate school. I asked about the nature of the lab, and the rest of the time was spent discussing her research.
 
Another interviewer was pretty quiet, but I was warned by the graduate students that he would be. He asked about my research, and I gave him a brief summary, and he asked a few general questions about what techniques I use. He gave a summary of his own research, and then we spent the rest of the time discussing where we were from and the advantages of the program and city. I had a similar interview after, it was just me explaining my research, and him explanining his, standard meeting.
 
My last interviewer was a tough nut to crack. I was used to the format of being asked about my research, them telling me about theirs, and then us going back and forth with my questions. This professor asked for questions first, and after asking a few he opened up the conversation. Then he asked about my research. The rest of the interview felt sort of like a job interview. He asked me my biggest strength, my biggest weakness (which he actually liked and agreed with me! Score!) He asked where I saw myself 15 years after earning a PhD. After more talking, we definitely warmed up to each other, and it ended up being one of my favorite interviews. We just went back and forth about grad school life, lab specifics, and such. Then he gave me a short tour of the lab and the people in it.
 
Interviews for other students:
I asked some of my fellow prospective grad students how their interviews were, and they said that they were a lot like mine. One actually said that one of her interviewers asked, “Why does this matter?” This goes back to knowing what you are doing and WHY. Just discuss the implications for the findings of your research.
 
Questions I was asked by everyone:
 
Is this your first interview? Be honest. For me, the answer was yes. They just want to gauge where they are in your app process.

What other schools did you apply to? Again, be honest. You don’t have to run off the entire list that you applied to. I said something about applying to a state school because it was close to home, but I really want to get away.

What are you working on? This was asked by faculty and grad students both in passing and during interviews. Try to have a short succinct summary prepared. It doesn’t have to be overly rehearsed, so that it doesn’t come off as robotic.

What do you want to study in graduate school? They want to see what your interests are, but you aren’t held to that. One of the great things I loved about this school was that there was a wide variety of research going on which was great for collaborations or if I wanted to move in a different direction.
 
General advice:
There are graduate students helping throughout your interviews. TALK TO THEM! They are there to answer all the questions that the professors can’t: grad school life, courses, where to live, which labs to join, which to avoid. They are an amazing resource, and all of the graduate students at my weekend were friendly, helpful, and willing to answer all of my questions. Also, don’t get down on yourself because an interviewer isn’t as talkative or seems passive in your interview. Sometimes, that’s just peoples’ personality. I had an amazing interview experience, the bar was set pretty high! The time flew by, and it wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought it would be. Bottom line, schools are looking to impress you just as much as you are trying to impress them, so relax, enjoy the free delicious food, and be yourself. You are an amazing potential graduate student. Show them why they chose to interview you!
 
If anyone has any additional questions, feel free to ask!

Guess I should add that the current grad students asked all sorts of personal questions - if I had a significant other and what I was planning to about that in grad school, etc.  And that after dinner, the grad students took all the perspectives to a drag show.  Like I said, it was an interesting experience.

I'm with you on Diaz, donthate, for the same reasons.

Joseph Conrad because I have never in my life been bored by something (other than maybe Downton Abbey, oops) the way I am bored by Heart of Darkness.

^^ yes about the well known faculty! Maybe Ill just ask for an autograph

well you aren't friends, yet, so what is there to discuss? it is very likely that they have a pool of applicants to choose from - 2/4 of my POIs were pretty clear that despite our chemistry, they will pick the best applicant (which of course will be me).

^^ yes about the well known faculty! Maybe Ill just ask for an autograph

Me too! See you both there

Me too! See you both there