hippo74

I had a few friends who lived in University West and never heard any real complaints and their places seemed pretty nice (much better than my place at the time in the Marylander...stay away from the marylander) but that's about all I can really say about it. I lived without a car for a long time (I used public transportation and zipcar) and I always thought it was easy to get around. There are a lot of free shuttles and the bus system is decent. Then I got a car and my I would definitely recommend bringing one if you can. There is a lot to do in the area surrounding baltimore and in areas of Baltimore that are a bit harder to get to by public transportation. Plus it makes it really easy to head over to DC for the day (there's a 7 dollar commuter train to DC but it doesn't run on weekends). Depending on where you live, there is a lot of available street parking if you pay a 20 dollar yearly fee for a residential parking permit. Some apartments have also have spots for rent but it isn't that expensive from what I've heard.

Just got UCSD acceptance email! I've now heard from all the programs I applied to so I guess its time to start actually making the final decision...

I'm not sure which weekend you were at but I did the first interview weekend (Feb 7-8) and heard back from them on Feb 18 if that helps.

Not sure about the grad classes but I think so Just got a Boston university invite! Good luck everyone!

@Neuron17 sorry I'm really not sure what the acceptance rate after interview is. If anyone else knows this information I'd be happy to know it too. @tifoz The majority of labs are on the medical campus. There are a few labs associated with the program where the lab is primarily in the psychology department and these labs are on the undergrad campus. There is also a small institute with about 10 small labs (Mind Brain Institute -this is where I have been working) that focuses on systems neuroscience...mostly electrophysiology with some computational stuff being done. I would guess that probably close to 90% of grad students are at the medical campus.

I can't provide any real information about if those specific programs are still sending out invites. You can always check the results section to see when/if the programs have sent out invites. If you don't end up getting in anywhere...are you applying directly out of college? If so joining a lab as a technician for a year or so is one possibility and can have some definite advantages for your application. a) It gives you full time research experience which can look much better on an application than the more limited hours of undergrad research, a.) it gives you some time off from school which can definitely be nice, c) it gives more time to fill in any holes in your application, retake GRE if necessary, etc. d) gives you a chance to get some publications or conference presentations onto your CV , e) spending more time in a lab can mean a much better LOR from your PI. This is of course only one of many options.

I am hoping for a bit of advice. My current interview schedule has me at JHU on Feb. 25 and 26, I fly to San Diego on the 27th for their interview on Feb 28 and March 1. I just found out I have been invited to an interview at UCLA on March 1 and 2 however. I would be able to change my return flight from san diego to be from LA on March 3 for free but I would still miss the first day (the one with actual faculty interviews) at UCLA. My other option is to try and switch the UCSD interview to their first option (Feb 27th and 28th) and skip some social events (dinner and night out with students) at JHU to fly out to SD the night of the 26th (still no fee to change flight). My question is will asking UCSD if it is possible to switch the interview date be a problem? I know they have probably started making plans and have already assigned me a student host so I don't want to frustrate them or make it seem like I do not care about their program as much. Should I just deal with missing a day of UCLA? I would skip one and attend the other but neither one is a higher choice for me at the moment. Any thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated!

I don't think you have anything to worry about. Some schools take longer to send acceptances. At my first interview on January 24, I was told I would hear back on Feb. 20. Telling them you have other offers won't mess with your chances. They know that people do not only apply to one school and they know competitive applicants get multiple offers. If they accept you it is because they want you at the school and hope you pick them over your other offers, having other offers should not change their admissions decision either way

If I get in I'll be trying my best to get a bottle of pappy van winkle's family reserve...if I don't get in anywhere it will be a bottle of old grand dad

Just got an interview at UCLA (Behavioral Neuroscience, psych dept). Saw on the results page someone is listed as accepted to that program...any chance you're on here? Did you get an official acceptance or an invite to the recruitment weekend?

When I posted first, I had not heard from them but yesterday I received an email from my POI saying (informally) I had been accepted for an interview. They only met to make their decisions on Tuesday and have not sent the formal invites yet. From what I heard it sounds like the invitations will be sent out today or in the next few days. Good luck!

I decided against it since UCSD is at the end of a 2 week period of 4 interviews with a total of 2 days off. I figured I'll be exhausted but I'm curious...what kind of activities will I be missing out on?

first interview I met with four but i have one coming up where I'm meeting with 5 or 6. I personally felt that reading the lab website was plenty of preparation. I focused more on reading up on some of the background of my current research. As long as you know the basics of their research, generating questions won't be too difficult. But it probably can't help to read up on their current projects a bit

It depends on the program and school. Some places I applied sent invites in early Dec. and others in late jan. I know of other programs that sometimes don't notify anyone until a the first few weeks of Feb. Like the others here have said checking the results section is the best way to see if anyone has heard back from your specific programs. You can also always send an email to the program asking if they have any update on your application status or when you might hear back from them. Many programs seem to respond quickly with a "we have already sent out invites" or "we are still reviewing applications. I also applied to UCLA (behavioral neuroscience area, psych dept.) but have heard nothing back either. Sorry I can't provide any more specific information but it is definitely not time to lose hope yet.

I went to JHU undergrad and have been working on the homewood campus for a few years (the area around campus is called charles village). Most housing near campus is pretty safe and fairly priced. The farther you go south (past 27th street) the neighborhood gets a bit less secure and rents get cheaper. You also don't want to go too far east for safety reasons (i wouldn't reccomend going past Greenmount) If you are looking for a more luxurious apartment they may be a bit more expensive in Charles village but renting a room in a row house is a fairly affordable option (I'm not sure the budget you are hoping to stick to but from my experience you can generally find studios for 600-800, 1brs for 700-1000, 2 bedrooms are around 1200 if you wanted to live with a roommate.). Other options are hampden (to the west of campus) and mount vernon (near the train station but also more expensive) which both have good food and bars around and are pretty safe.

Just got the UCSD invite by email! I guess they are sending out invites now to fill in for people who couldn't make it

That also happened far to often to me. 40 characters is not enough to answer "Describe your responsibilities were in this position" One application asked me for my current employment but refused to let me move on until I listed an end date for the job they knew I am still working at

I would definitely recommend Amtrak. The trians will probably be running more often than flights giving you more options to travel. Baltimore's airport is a half hour cab ride (or train ride) from the city while the train station (penn station) is directly in the middle of the city with cheap or free transportation to most places you would need to get. You also don't have to deal with security lines and restrictions on liquids, delays, and getting to the airport early.

I was equally frustrated by the UT Austin application. The common app was annoying enough but there were also extremely vague questions. And there was a separate neuroscience application that also had to be downloaded, filled in, and uploaded to the status page after the application was submitted. For every other school, pressing "submit" was the last step in the application process. I was also a bit surprised by MIT's Brain and cognitive sciences application. It required a list of all classes that could be relevant (which could not be changed or even viewed once entered) and what textbook you used in that class. And unlike every other program, entering your reference writers into the application did not send a request. It generated an text for you to copy and paste into an email that you have to send the reference writer. I'm glad to be done and I realize now that it all wasn't that bad but when I was so anxious about getting applications in it was just something else to get annoyed about

Sounds like you're on their alternate list. It seems like people who aren't on the list would just be told they were not going to be offered an interview. There is still hope!

I applied to 9 neuroscience programs, got interview invites from four (all in the last two weeks of december) and have no heard nothing in almost 3 weeks. I only know of one that has sent out all of their invites for sure but its getting harder and harder to believe there will be anything but rejections coming any time soon

I'm extremely nervous. The only questions I can think of are the standards and I feel like I'm wasting their time. Hopefully I can kill enough time describing my research and hearing them describe theirs that I don't have to come up with questions for 10+ minutes. I also can't stop feeling that I should not be interviewing with some of the more well known faculty I have requested to meet with. It can be very intimidating and is definitely not helping me relax

"Oh you're applying to neuroscience programs? My [insert relative] has [insert neurological condition]. you should try to cure that" I've been asked to cure alzheimer's, schizophrenia, parkinson's, and brain cancer so far...none of which are related to my research

Hi everyone, I'm new to the forum. Congrats to everyone on the interviews. So far I've heard from 4 of 9 programs (interviews at NYU neuroscience and physiology, Columbia, JHU, and UT Austin). Still waiting on UCSD, MIT, BU, UCLA, and University of Chicago. It sounds like BU and UCSD haven't sent requests and i've seen all the talk about MIT. Anyone on here applying to the behavioral neuroscience UCLA program or integrative neuroscience at the University of Chicago? Thanks and good luck to everyone