biotechie

Why are you worried about only applying to 6? I had three interviews (like you), and ended up turning the last one down because the first two were awesome programs that were my top choices and both accepted me. My interview season is already over! I know where I'm going and I'm all set to go, but I need to write a thesis, first. As long as you selected schools and did your best with your applications, I don't see why you would need more. You will be fine!

My post got buried, so I don't think anyone saw it, so this post is to let peeps know I'm all better on this front now in case someone sees it later. Luckily the admins at that school e-mailed me and told me I'm good to go! Now I have to submit a thesis... in less than two months... and defend it... before April 15... if I wanna graduate in May. Things just keep radically changing on me! Holy crap!

No problem! Good luck at your interviews!

I hope you wouldn't select a program simply for one or two professors unless you already know from those professors that you have a place in the lab; odds are, you won't be able to get into either lab. Either they won't be taking students your year or it will be too competitive to get a rotation. >.< You probably will have to expand your interests quite a bit. You won't want to hear this, but a lot of times, you actually end up with professors as your PIs that aren't doing what you thought you wanted to do. Grad school is going to help you refine but also expand your interests; you may not even get a post-doc in your initial interests, and your post-doc usually determines your final research direction. My projects involve epigenetics, autoimmune disorders, cancer, and lots of mouse work. I thought I wanted to work in a cancer biology lab, but I ended up interviewing with someone who does liver aging and epigenetics, and I really love his research, so I will be at least rotating with him. Go through the list of professors and look at their research in the past 5 years or so. If they are doing even one aspect of one thing you are interested in (epigenetics, for example), they should be great to talk to. You may find yourself surprisingly interested. Many programs intentionally place you outside of your comfort zone just to see what you will do and how you perform. For me, I probably had four or five professors I really wanted to meet, but they were busy, so I had to select an alternate list. I picked professors based on working model (Mice/rats for me... I know I don't want to work with worms or yeast), interest, and whether or not I thought I could carry a conversation. I ended up speaking with professors in virology (research related to cancer), microbiology (host immune response), immunology, cell bio, and genetics. The common factor between them was transcriptional gene control and epigenetics, both things I do with my current project, but completely unrelated to their own research projects. It opened up lots of room for discussion between us because there was that small common ground. Take the time to read a couple of their papers before the interview as well as their online bio, and you will find you have tons to talk about. Go into the interview with questions and a bit of understanding about their papers/projects. They love to talk about their research, and well thought-out questions can show them you know how to think critically. Some professors will know that you are probably uninterested in their work before you even walk in, but since most see your file before-hand, they will find ways to correlate it to your projects and they will have specific questions for you. Just do your research, and you will be fine!

I have an interesting dilemma that is now making me go a little nuts. I got accepted into my favorite program, and classes start the first week of August. However, they require my completed transcript that shows my degree was conferred before that date. Even though I'm defending my masters thesis in June, my degree won't be conferred until mid-August. There is a chance I can graduate in May, but it is slim. Here is to hoping I can get a waiver from my new school!

How soon are you guys letting schools that accept you know of your decisions? Obviously we have to complete interviews before giving a final decision (I'm done with mine), but is there a certain amount of time that you wait? I was thinking of making my choices known on Monday.

The professors I interviewed with were really happy that I brought things in with me; they told me so. I brought in a copy of my most recent seminar presentation powerpoint (printed) so I wouldn't have to try to draw pictures, and I had a printout and notes in my notebook on each professor and their research. They asked me several questions on my research and invited me to ask questions as they explained theirs. It was a ver comfortable conversation atmosphere, and it made me more comfortable to have my research and notebook there with me. I've interviewed with a total of 14 professors, now, and they most told me they like it when students come in with documents for their own research and notes that show they researched who they are talking to. Someone mentioned that lots of schools put people in the admissions committee into the interviews. That totally happens, and those interviews, in my experience, veer out away from research and turn into more of a life story session where you also feel like you are in an advisement session.

Some schools provide you with a nice little backpack/bag. Most don't, though. It will help if you bring some notes (about the professors), your CV, and any info on your project in with you. It may help if you have a small notebook to more clearly draw any reaction schemes or details from your previous projects. Some professors will answer questions that you will want to write down, too! I brought a nice laptop bag to mine, and it was perfect for my portfolio, phone, etc. FYI, University of Florida does not provide a bag, so definitely bring one. There is a TON of walking on the first day and on interview day. One of my interviews was 10 minutes walking away from the Brain Institute where we had most of our meetings. Luckily I had on boots that weren't that uncomfortable.

Wait lists do happen... for some schools, they are hard to get off of. Others cycle through lots of applicants and you may get invited for an interview. No worries. I'm on the UCSD Biomedical Sciences waitlist. It happens. Good luck with your confirmed interview!

I was definitely able to head into my second interview with more confidence; I think it showed, hopefully not too much. The PIs kept asking me why I wasn't nervous. I guess telling them I was comfortable with talking about my research projects was a good answer? Since the school that accepted me was my top choice and the one I just interviewed at was also a top choice, I declined by backup school interview. I was waitlisted at UCSD so that means.... my interview season is done. It will be time to make decisions, very soon.

I've sent thank yous to all of the professors I met with, as well as the administrative staff. I always include a piece that is specific to what we talked about in the interviews. Sometimes, they respond back, and sometimes they don't. One of the schools I went to, the professors e-mailed me back, very positively, about how they thought the interviews went, that they would recommend me for admission, and that they were happy to meet me. One of them went so far as to recommend two experiments for my current project! Definitely take a few minutes to write them.

It is generally okay to stay at your alma mater only if you have additional studies to pursue after you finish this next degree.. I stayed for my Masters degree, but I am leaving to pursue a PhD elsewhere. Could I get a great education at my alma mater? Yes, most definitely, but I will struggle to find a job later if I stay. If you can guarantee that you will get a killer post-doc, it might be okay, but in science, it is considered imperative that you move beyond that safe nest you made at your undergraduate institution. You really need to get into a different school for your PhD. Make sure there isn't another program that you are in love with and can be happy in before you choose to stay where you are at. If you do stay, it could be a very hard road.

I got the same thing. >.<

Thanks! Congrats to you on UPenn! I am going to this interview, this weekend, but I may decline any others. It would be between Baylor and UF, anyway since I haven't heard from UCSD.

Sooo... I am interviewing at a school this weekend that they promised to send me a detailed itinerary the week before the interview. They just scheduled me this week, and while I have the flight information, I know nothing else. I e-mailed them, earlier, but got no response... and I leave on Sunday. Any ideas on what to do? Just go with it?

Isn't it crazy to hear so early? I got a decision, today as well, and I was at my school last week!

At my most recent interview, there was only one faculty that had not read my personal and research statements. Do your best on them so that if they do start to read them, they are pulled in by your story. Show them how amazing you are without gloating. They can see how passionate you are through your writing, and for some of them, that plus research experience is going to mean much more than numbers on a page. This is why you see some students in very high ranking programs while their counterparts with 4.0s and perfect GREs don't get accepted. It also provides for some very interesting interview questions. I know for me, at least, my acceptance is going to depend on my LOR, personal and research statements, and research experience. If they based it solely on GPA and GRE, I would get into very few programs.

Agreed. I am waiting on them as well.

What? We're trying to be realistic.

That's bigger than the program I interviewed for at Baylor, then. So... I'm guessing odds of admission after interview are around 25%. Not bad.

Thanks! Good luck to you as well! I was just given final word on travel, today, so I didn't even know I was going to this one until then! That is a TON of students! It makes me a little worried. How many spots do they award, again? By the way, when I was at Baylor, one of the profs that interviewed me was on the way to help decide the Immunology interviewees, so if you haven't heard about an interview, yet.... soon.

So... I'm super exited to be going on another interview this weekend, but has anyone heard from UCSD Biomedical Sciences? I'm getting worried.

UF has not receded into the abyss. I'm not sociology, but I got an interview from them for their IDP in biomedical sciences program. They notified me last week. I would look for invites anytime between now and the end of February.

I wore a pair of nice grey slacks with comfortable (also cute) black boots, a nice blouse, and a 3/4 sleeved black jacket... sortof the female version of a sport coat. I also saw girls wearing skirts with either really nice blouses, sometimes with jackets, or belted dresses and sweaters. Comfortable shoes are key. No stilettos.

They may ask to try and decide how serious you are about grad school. They're not trying to get your whole life history, but, especially in the case of women, this is an age when lots of people are wanting to settle down and start families. They want to make sure you're not going to let yourself be pulled from your studies by these things; they need to know that you're not going to get two years in and then quit to have babies or something. You're in a PhD program, and they expect that you can be productive for 4.5-6 years. They don't have time to and don't want to train someone new every two years. A biomed PhD program is going to require that you be flexible with your lab time and put in 60 or more hour weeks. If you are constantly flying out to see a boyfriend or are trying to start a family, it is nearly impossible to maintain acceptable lab productivity and to do will in classes. There are lots of grad students who have a significant other that comes with them, but you just have to be able to show that you're serious and you mean business for science. They may also ask to just sortof figure out your background. What sort of person are you? Where did you grow up? How were you raised? They are trying to recruit students to their lab, and they want to know if you have chemistry and can survive the lab dynamic.