Leuco

Just a quick fyi, if it helps: Purdue/Lafayette's bus system is City Bus, here: (http://gocitybus.com/) That lists bus routes, and you see how late they run. Some vary (i.e. the 4B [which takes you to Copper Beach/College Station/some others] runs every half-hour from 6:30am ish to 7pm, then every hour until midnight, while I think Happy Hollow and most of the campus routes only run till 6ish or so, just depends. So if you dont have a car and plan on staying on campus late, check on this. Also! Some places (I think maybe Copper Beech is one of them) have their own express bus services.

Hello eliotstanton! I'm joining the same program you are, I think! I am having troubles looking for a place, it seems a very frustrating experience. Are there any places you would suggest NOT living (too undergrad-y, a bit shady?)

I can say that I haven't heard any specific things bad about the places you mentioned, but I haven't heard a lot about them in general, sadly. I know Beau Jardin is a pretty popular place for new grad students, especially internationals. It's on a bus line, I believe (10-15 min ride either way if I remember right) I think I've heard good things about Blackbird Farms, and I know I've at least heard of Livesay Management, haha. I really can't think of any particular areas to avoid in Lafayette/West Lafayette. I mean, I have a (female) friend who lives in a studio in downtown Lafayette (4th street-ish) and has no troubles stumbling back at night drunk. I mean, it's obiviously not totally crime free, but there's nothing specific I can think of to avoid. Yeah, most grad students tend to want to live in downtown Lafayette - the bars are there, and it's easy to get to campus, and generally NO undergrads (the joke is they won't cross the river), but some do tend to live in West Lafayette, though a bit further from campus.

Hey all - been at Purdue for 5 years now (4 years undergrad, 1 as tech), and can give you some info. I think as a graduate student, I'd prefer to live in Lafayette, just over the bridge. I know a grad student that lives is West Lafayette, near Grant Street (near the Purdue power plant), and another that owns a house out near Wal-Mart on 52. It totally depends what you want to do. I am not sure about the bike situation around here. A number of people bike, but I don't think the situation is the best. There aren't any dedicated bike lanes that I've noticed. Bike riding on campus isn't bad, but I am not sure how getting here would be. Bus: I take the bus every day. My bus line runs pretty late, and comes about every half-hour. If you live in downtown Lafayette, the bus will also run rather late, and come every 10-15 minutes. (Check gocitybus.com for bus information). In my opinion, the bus system isn't bad, but I come from somewhere with pretty much no bus system, so I don't really have room to speak Places to avoid, undergrad-wise? I think the closer to campus you get, the more undergrads are there. If you live anywhere near what we call Chauncey, there will be a ton of undergrads, especially in the evenings and weekends, particularly if there is a home football game. (Chauncey is the area near "Harry's Chocolate Shop," "Jake's Roadhouse," and "Where Else?" (three pretty popular undergrad bars). Another popular place for undergrads is near the Cactus (a bar/club), and that will probably get pretty loud on Thursday-Saturday evenings. Any other questions, lemme know!

I just accepted an offer with the Microbiology PhD program! Hello all! I am from Indiana, but the first time I visited Wisconsin was the interview, haha. I am pretty darn excited about the hockey and the cheese!

Sorry to hear that :/ Hope all works out in the end, though.

I got an acceptance call this morning, as well, around 11am their time. The email came a few hours later. Congrats to all who got the call!

Same! Congrats to both of us!!!

If I've learned anything this interview season, it's that...I am absolutely terrible with names. At my first interview, I had a lot of trouble matching names/faces, even of people I'd spoken to, and I suddenly couldn't remember what any of them worked on! For my second, I'm going to print off a page of faculty photos matched with a quick description of what they do. If you have as much trouble with this names things as I do, you might want to try this!

I am interviewing with Cornell Biomedical Sciences. I paid for my plane ticket, but was informed I would be reimbursed, yes.

I just looked these up - is that the Reigious studies division? You might want to try a different forum if it is - we are mostly biological sciences here.

I think they've sent out second and third waves, too - I got mine on January 3rd. I called in December, and I think they said they'd be sending out invites through mid/late January.

Best: Haven't had too much back-and-forth problems, but almost all of the universities this year have been pretty awesome. Worst: UCLA. I applied last application cycle, didn't get my rejection notice until August.

Thanks for the info!! Can't wait! You're right, I think my favorite part about the weekend was how great it seemed to be a graduate student there... so many facilities and places to cater to the needs of the grad students. Thanks again for showing us around!!

I applied to MMG, but if IMP is still reviewing, I'm hopeful. Thanks! How did you find out?

So we have to agree to let each other know if when we get invites to attend, rightttt? I'll do my best to post!

one thing I will tell you about ACCESS: Last year, I applied. The online thingy said "under review" until I gave up checking in March. Also, I received the email saying my app status was updated on August 8, and the letter attached was dated in March. So if you don't hear from ACCESS, it may not be good. I'd suggest calling at some point to check. [i have no idea when they sent out invites last year, btw.]

When was your interview weekend? I just had one this past weekend and am curious when I'll know! (especially because this school has two weekends )

Just called Emory's Biological + Biomedical Sciences program, asked about MMG invites. They said they were not finished sending out invites, and that the recruitment process will be going on until March, and that they asked us to "be patient." (I do know that at least one rejection for MMG was sent out on Feb 20 last year.)

Last year, U Maryland, Baltimore sent out their invites for Molecular Micro + Immuno (can't remember exactly if that's connected with Molecular Medicine or not) on January 23 or so, and their rejects the day after. That's all I have info on, though! Good luck.

I saw someone posted on the forums about an Emory MMG interview - when is that one? What weekend? Thanks!

It depends.... one of my friends, who went to UC Santa Cruz, started after Labor Day. My friend who went to Harvard (Public Health) did an early summer rotation, in July. Purdue biochem students start about a week before classes I think, so early August. My guess: As long as you don't do a summer rotation, /probably/ around the time the undergrads start is when you would start.

Sameeee. I spent months on PCR. Worked for everyone else, not for me. It frustrates me because it takes forever to troubleshoot, and it seems to be magical sometimes. I run the exact same reaction one day, and then the next, and get different results! I dunno. I agree that it's very, very useful, just very, very frustrating.

Agreed. For ours, a public research university, the only official holidays were Dec 25-27 and yesterday, Jan 1, but a lot of staff/faculty/students are taking advantage of the vacations, so the universities, while officially open, probably won't be fully staffed again until Monday.

I am almost positive that this is true. I know the programs go through apps separately, make decisions on their own and all that. (I haven't heard anything about MMG yet, so I, too, am anxiously waiting)