biotechie

I'm in a different field than you, but for me, the rank of the school did not matter at all. I actually sort of hate when people look at rank of school when what really will matter most in the end is who you worked under and what you publish. I attended a really unknown MS program, and my experience was what showed up on my application that was asked about the most. You need to go where you feel you're going to get the best education and where you feel comfortable as a student. Please don't pick your school solely on rank. It sounds like you've already made your decision, but are sort of letting the idea of the high-ranked school confuse you. Go where you will be happy!

This depends greatly on your field as well as the school. Some fields, no interview means no chance of acceptance whereas in others, there are no interviews at all. For the most part, in my field (molecular biology/biomed), if you don't get an interview, you're not getting accepted. There aren't many schools that will accept you (with notification) before you interview. Like Peachy said, interviews are used to sell you the school, but they're also used to make sure you're really as good of a fit as you seem on paper. For this field, it means you made it over the first hurdle and you have a better chance, but it doesn't guarantee you admission. If you get a flat-out rejection right after the interview, it means you really screwed something up. There are acceptances post-interview, and then wait-lists. Obviously in other fields, this is going to be different. I feel like it would be helpful to generate a list of common application to admission/rejection timelines for the various fields and then there wouldn't be so much confusion. Perhaps it would be helpful to note likelihood of funding or if things like rotations happen as well. It would be hard to do all of them all at once, but maybe the sciences would be a start. (1st-year grad student, so I'm not volunteering to do it!)

You should go talk to your Ombudsman and they can help you get ahold of the proper people to figure out what is going on that is making you feel this way. There's nothing wrong with seeking help even if it turns out to be a "phase." Depression in graduate school is common, and sometimes it is really hard to impossible to get out of it on your own. You really do need to talk to someone, and that may be all you need. At the very least, it will help you figure out where you stand and what steps you need to take from there. Sometimes having a direction to go, even a small one, helps! Good luck!

My school is weird and has five 8-week terms per year. I have 2 years of classes in 4 terms, and I just finished the 3rd term 2 weeks ago. I got the grades for it today, and I passed those classes! It was supposed to be the most difficult term. That puts me at ¾ of the way done with classes! I have 6 exams (for 3 classes) and a qualifying exam until candidacy. I should defend my qual in August or September. I also joined a lab last term, the second student in my class to join. The other person had rotated during the summer, so they got to join earlier. This term, the classes are supposed to be more fun. I'm excited because they're classes I'm interested in, plus I'm starting to dig into and plan my project!

I second this. When I was applying last year, the current grad students in the program I joined actually sought us out to try and make sure all of our questions were answered. This year, I've been giving my contact info out to the applicants who interview with us. The students are not likely to gloss things over for you, so you're much more likely to get an honest answer about whatever you're inquiring about. As far as the "worth of the program," that is indeed a sketchy question. We're all going to think our programs are well worth it! That's why we're talking to you about it. I think you're going to find that rank doesn't matter nearly as much as you would expect it to, so if you're stuck trying to pick between a Top-10 program and one that ranks maybe 25th, pick the one you'll be happier with. I applied without looking at rank, and I'm quite happy with where I ended up. What matters is that you get to do good research and that you're able to launch yourself in the right direction at graduation.

Just because people are dating long distance doesn't mean they don't want to make the sacrifice. Boyfriend tried his hardest to find a job where I was moving, but that area just isn't hiring around here for his level of experience. Otherwise he would be here with me. We both looked at each other and decided that we needed to make sure the other was happy in their career, as that is important to us. Obviously having a career where you feel that you're making a difference isn't something essential to everyone, but it is something important to us. It doesn't "complicate" our relationship; this in itself is a sacrifice for both of us. I think the original poster isn't really concerned with opinions of whether a long-distance relationship is a good idea or not; they're about to embark on one. They want to hear ways that those of us who have done it or are doing it are able to continue the relationship without the luxury of seeing our significant other every day. There have been some wonderful posts about how people make it work, and I think we need more things like that on this thread. Boyfriend and I try to make it a point to Skype at least 3 times a week, and we text throughout the day. We send each other cards in the mail randomly because it is fun to get mail that isn't a bill and we never know when we will get something. I also second the poster who said it is important to visit every few months. The longest I haven't actually seen my boyfriend is about 6 months, but when we visit each other every couple of months, we seem to do fine the rest of the time.

That's easier said than done. My boyfriend was not able to find a job in the city I was moving to, and he knows I won't be happy if I don't pursue my career. We definitely considered me skipping out on my PhD to take a lab manager job I was offered, but I would have been miserable. I know he won't be happy if he isn't able to pursue his own career. There's a chance he can move down here with me in another year or so, but we mutually agreed that to sacrifice one of our careers would mean doom for our relationship and our happiness. We both have to have something that makes us feel fulfilled outside of the relationship we have with each other. As for "having to figure it out down the line," that's easier to do in the future than it is, now. I'm going to be moving every 3 years or so for a while until I find a place to settle and fight for tenure. For now, it is better for him to establish himself in his field than for me to drag him around all the time. We are still doing fairly well after a year apart, and I'm fairly sure we will be doing even better once I get through Quals and have a tad more time to talk. I have no interest in finding someone else. You can make it work, but you do have to work for it. The previous posters are proof.

Somehow I survived Undergrad with no debt (academic scholarship) and managed a funded MS at the same institution. I anticipate no debt for my PhD studies since I'm not spending much at all, here.... however, one caveat to not having any debt as a 24-year old is that you have literally no credit. I couldn't even get a credit card. Luckily my credit union through the school is going to help me get one to work on establishing some credit, but it is quite annoying. I don't /need/ a card, but I do need credit in the future if I want to buy a car or house. >.<

I definitely felt that thank yous were necessary, even though I said thanks at the end of my interview session. You have to remember that some of these professors are seeing 10-20 students per weekend over several weekends. They often don't get time to reflect between interviews or with their current students running into their office for lab things. The thank you may just help them remember you and why you were different from the rest, so if nothing else, that could be something additional to help solidify your place. As others have said, often the responses back are encouraging as well and help to reduce your stress. Being on the "current student" side of interviews this year, I've heard professors saying how much they appreciate hearing back from students post-interview. These are things you should consider when deciding whether or not you're going to provide a thank-you. I would say if you really want to attend that particular school, it should not even be a question; you should drop them a note. Don't forget the administrative assistant or the student(s) who helped you around while you were there.

ksamps, it is pretty late in the application season. I think you're going to find that a lot of the MS programs have deadlines prior to February 28, particularly the funded ones, so you might have to wait until next school year to get in or find some schools that allow admission for Spring 2015. There will be a few, but not many, still accepting applications or that have rolling applications. Funded MS degrees are few and far between. I was lucky enough to be funded by staying on with my undegrad PI's lab. I would look into that option if I were you. Otherwise, you might have to either take on the debt or work for a few years to build up some revenue so you can run through a MS or post-bacc program. You might struggle a little to get into a MS, but I think your research experience will really help you. In my opinion, a MS is better than a post-bacc for those wanting to go on for a PhD. If you're wanting to go to med school, I would probably avoid a MS. My experience is a professors tend to be not so crazy about pre-med MS students, so getting into a lab might be a challenge, and that type of student is also far less productive as far as research goes. What exactly are you wanting to accomplish with a MS? That will determine the type of MS program you apply to (thesis or non-thesis) and also will determine which types of schools still have open applications. If you're wanting to do a PhD later on, you definitely need to do a thesis-based MS. You said you had trouble acclimating to college. Graduate school is like college^cubed. Please make sure that you're prepared for a graduate education, especially in the sciences. Take some time to really consider it and to talk to current MS and PhD students. I regularly spent more than 14 hours at school in the lab per day and I spent most weekends in the lab. It isn't like that all the time, but you're going to have to really push yourself. You're going to be balancing 40-60 hours of research per week + classes and probably teaching. It is very hard work and very different from undergraduate. I'm not trying to discourage you, but I've seen too many people burn out and lose their love of science, and that's the last thing we need to have happen. The decision to go to grad school is a big one.

I would not do anything about rotations until you have finalized your school. My school sent me information in May to select rotations professors for school that started on the 1st day of August. You have time. Also, make sure you're not too set on joining a specific PI or a few specific PIs. I just ended up joining a lab of a guy who is brand-new, but I can tell it is going to go well. This guy has got it figured out!

I sent thank yous to every professor I interviewed with at the school I liked, and don't forget the program administrator! They work hard, too! One of the PIs I had e-mailed to thank ended up e-mailing me back to tell me he appreciated hearing back from me and hoped to see me in the fall. He ended up being one of the head guys on the committee. Even if you don't normally send them, I would recommend it, especially if you really love the school. One program I was so disenchanted with by the end of the interview, I did not send thank yous, but I also had an acceptance from them before my plane touched down at home from the interview, so it wouldn't have mattered.

Ion, that Albert text is the one we used in my courses, here. It is a good resource just to have even if you're not using it as your main text. I also really like Boron and Boulpaep's Medical Physiology book. It is good at taking the molecular stuff to a more organismal level, which is good for single-cell minded people like myself! Janeway's Immunobiology is also really good if you have to take Immunology. They do a good job of breaking things down so it is easier to understand.

I second all of this, although I work most efficiently right after lunch, so I tend to be a night owl in the lab. The plus is that the PCR machines are always open! You're not going to multitask well in the beginning, but eventually you'll get to the end of a day and be like, "Whoa, did I really just wean mice, plate cells, isolate RNA, make cDNA, run qPCR, and finish genotyping mice in 8 hours?" Once you're comfortable, you reach almost a feeling of lab zen. The last thing I do each day is update my lab notebook and then I plan out my next day's experiments in a different notebook. If I need to label tubes, I try to do them before I go home. I also spend some time looking up information on new things I'm doing (for example, search: troubleshooting ChIP sonication) so I have an idea what to do if something doesn't go quite right.

Don't be so quick to give up on UF. Last year, I was notified about a week and a half before the interview. Their first one was at the very end of January, but they also had a second weekend that they did a second round of invites for later in February. I was notified on the 16th of January, and I was on their campus the 26th, and I had turned in my application pretty early. You might just be getting looked at for the second round. Also note that they make up for the time it takes them to go through applications by having a really fast turnaround post-interview. The interview committee was meeting when we were waiting on the shuttle to the airport, and I had an e-mail informing me of my acceptance by the time I stepped off the plane!

For most interviews, a dress shirt and slacks is sufficient. A tie and/or sport coat if you want, one. Just don't wear jeans or anything less than business casual and you should be fine. I would personally dress a tad above business casual, but I'm also female. Good luck!

Many schools actually have people who reject their interview invitations, so they take students out of the "maybe" or "rejection" pool and put them in those spots. In some cases, after interviews are over and if the spots still aren't full, they'll notify a few more people for an interview, which is what happened to me with one school. This is why most schools hold of on some (or all) of their rejections until they've filled their classes.

Hi Flux! I ended up doing a MS before my PhD studies for several reasons. I was changing from microbiology to mammalian molecular biological systems due to a lab I had joined my junior year. I felt that my GPA and lack of background knowledge would not put me where I wanted to be, and I wasn't sure if I was cut out for PhD studies. I did my MS, and it taught me that I love my field and that I'm ready to dig deeper. I had more experience than my peers at applications and by interviews I had manuscripts in progress as well as tons of presentation experience. The lab experience has been a big help during my rotations in my new PhD program and the coursework from my MS gave me a strong background that is helping me with my classes. I know I would not have survived a PhD in a new field without my MS experience. That being said, funded masters degrees like I had are hard to come by. That's a lot of debt you could accrue when you might be able to get into a PhD program with your current grades. Doing your MS simply to get into a "top" school bothers me. Yes, there is something to a name, but you really need to be focusing on your research interests and on potential faculty mentors. Some of the best faculty aren't at those top 20 schools that everyone applies to. I picked out the PIs I was interested in and then looked at requirements and time to qualifying exam completion and graduation. I don't think I even looked at ranking until after I applied. Do yourself a favor and consider those things above where the school ranks.

It depends. Are you publishing this research paper in a scientific journal? Will you be first or second author? If so, that will be more beneficial than a senior thesis in some cases. However, you can generate a senior thesis and the work done on that can contribute to a publication either in the near future or down the road. My senior thesis contained about ½ the amount of data my MS thesis contained, and it got my the designation of "with Honors" for my BS degree. That data is local to the school, but is now being included in a publication I will be able to place on my CV. Though I'm already attending, this is still extremely beneficial. The type of writing required for a thesis is very different than a general paper as well, and you will need to do a lot of this writing as a graduate student. Even if you only gain this experience from your thesis writing for undergrad, I feel it is extremely beneficial. If you can find a professor willing to put you on a project or to fund your own project, go for the thesis. It will likely be more difficult for you, but also more beneficial.

Last year, I was notified by half of my schools before December 23. The other half notified me in early January and one was in March (interview off of wait list). Interviews are often sent out at some schools to top applicants, first, and other times all at once. Keep in mind that when these are sent out depend on when the committees meet, so maybe some schools met a little earlier this year, and maybe some are meeting later. Some of the research conferences got moved around this year, so those may affect which adcomms are around and available to meet. My point is that you shouldn't freak out or worry because in this waiting period, there is nothing you can do. For now, consider no answer as positive. If you don't hear anything by February, you might be entitled to a small freakout. You didn't apply to any of the programs I did... so I can't really give you any idea about specific programs.

Weird. That was something I looked into when I was applying. All of the programs I applied to had a higher than 70% completion rate... my program has an 85% completion rate, meaning at most, one person may drop from my class. I must have just picked schools where the students actually finish. Is there any way you can link us to the report? I travelled all day, today, and apparently it has affected my Google skills.