AGradStudentHasNoName
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Posts posted by AGradStudentHasNoName
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I got Cornell Tri institutional program as well.
But no Harvard :(. I guess my years of industry experience aren't being weighted that highly?
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4 minutes ago, Katyya said:
Also since they interview and accept such a large cohort of people and have tons of funding it's not like oh sorry you're a great candidate but this year we are looking for people with different research interests because only that PI is recruiting. Like I was surprised I got an invite from Emory because they accept 5-10 people and I fit less there with my research interests. UPenn accepts more than 100. If you don't get an interview they probably didn't like something in your application and I honestly can't think what that could be.
I have 4 amazing letters from the director of my external research funding agency, chair of the biology department who taught my journal club type seminar, professor that taught my cell biology and saw me give an oral presentation at the conference and my PI who is a chair of the department and a huge name in cancer research.
And it could totally be regional bias because I go to UChicago it's more 'expected' that I stay in the midwest. I've heard that from many people in admissions.Sorry. Feels bad. I hope something good works out for you.
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8 minutes ago, myhairtiebroke said:
Did you mention this sentiment in your SOPs? Because that seems like a boner killer for adcoms. Additionally, expecting your program/lab to generate, or already have, data for you is an incredibly entitled mindset.
No. I didn't mention this in my sop or anywhere else in my application. I didn't highlight my wet lab work because its not what I expect to be doing in grad school. I'm not sure why it is entitled. There are many public data sources upon which we can create new computational methods and publish research. It is easier if the data is private as fewer people have had the chance to analyze that data. If the methods used to analyze the data constitute novel research then great, that is a paper.
3 minutes ago, sivis said:That's something I definitely see across all the labs I've been in, but they would be doing that as a PhD student and not as someone who has been hired. I'm not sure how that would translate to authorship, especially primary authorship that many programs require for graduation.
This is dealt with in many labs. It depends on whether the novel aspect is the biology/hypothesis or the computational methods used. If the answer is one or the other, the first authorship is easy to figure out. If it is both, sometimes there are dual first authors (increasingly common) and sometimes there are 2 papers one focusing on the method and one focusing on the results.
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25 minutes ago, Epigenetics said:
I mean there are a lot of mitigating factors. Your PI doesn't really decide when you graduate, your DAC does, but some professors are more willing to get you through faster than others. Also to a certain extent it depends on how much you actually did and how high-quality and rigorous the work is. But my experience with people in several different Harvard programs is once you have one or two first author papers accepted that's when you're able to graduate if you want.
My point was not that it is literally impossible to have four papers in four years. I'm actually a bad person to talk to about this, since I have four papers (submitted or in preparation) that I'm (co-)first author on from the past 18 months. However, I'm in a fortunate position since I didn't have to collect any of the data like I would've had to for a PhD, so it would've taken a lot longer to do those other steps. Fields also vary on this to be sure, but PhD students tend to take a while to get their sea legs, and review is a bitch, so there are common mitigating factors.
So there are of course mitigating factors, but the likely combination is some version of either (a) you graduate in 3-4 years when the first couple papers are accepted or (b) you graduate whenever you get the first one accepted after however many years that is. Outliers exist, my point was that it's not common or really expected.
I don't plan on collecting any data if at all possible. I have selected my programs and labs such that they have excellent data generation resources, people generating that data, and loads of existing data that they own. This has been a primary concern of mine. I've done wet lab work in the distant past. No thanks! (no offense to the many wet lab researchers here, please collab with me lol)
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2 minutes ago, Epigenetics said:
I don't have anything to prove, I was just trying to provide information I have. Good luck, you'll be missed at the genome sciences interviews!
Thanks for the sentiment. I still expect we will cross paths eventually.
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4 minutes ago, Epigenetics said:
As someone who's spent two years now in a high-power Harvard Medical School lab, I can tell you like by definition if you get two first-author papers they graduate you, it can even only take one, that's a remarkably high rate to anticipate.
The numbers may have been inflated. Comp bio vs bio vs cs are all a bit different. The basic reasoning remains. Like I said, I don't want your advice. I have talked to people who are knowledgeable and whom I trust in order to make my decisions. I don't know what you are attempting to prove here.
I admitted that you are an excellent candidate and the interview invites are showing that. Move on.
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7 minutes ago, Epigenetics said:
You do understand that a PhD gets you one... maybe two papers? Especially as someone with no academic research experience that's an ambitious expectation. But good luck!
Wow. Thanks for the info. I never knew!! Nor did I set down this path with any better info than an internet forum poster could give me.
I did not solicit advice.
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9 minutes ago, Epigenetics said:
Can you explain why you're applying to PhD programs? Most people with an MD would just do a post doc, like you don't need a PhD if you want to go into academia or industry.
I have been over this before on these forums. And I have talked to multiple professors about this. And there is some disagreement among the professors. I think I might have a hard time getting a post doc at a top lab while I think I should have a shot at a top PhD program. And I think taking the extra time to build a strong publication history will be beneficial in the long term. If I did a post doc for 2-3 years and got 2-3 papers and then applied for faculty positions, it would be a tough sell. If I do a PhD and get 3-4 papers then a 1-2 year post doc and get another 1-2 papers and the labs I was working in were better thought of so those papers would probably be in better journals etc. It is a reasonable thing to do. I don't need a Phd to go into industry... I'm already in industry and the people with my title at my company have phds from mit and stanford.
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There is a uw genome sciences report in thegradcafe survey now for an interview....
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8 minutes ago, Oddich55 said:
Well! Back to admissions peeps!
Got UCSD for Bioinformatics/Biomedical Informatics. February 23-24!
Congrats. Now I wish I had applied lol. I even emailed pevsner but all I got in response was "please apply to the program and we can talk more at interviews". But it eventually fell off my list.
Now watching archer and drinking :/ lol
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11 minutes ago, Epigenetics said:
My stress level while waiting for interviews isn't helped by the fact I have one first author paper waiting to come back from review at Nature Genetics and a second author paper submitted to Science, so my entire life is basically waiting right now
I'm not a patient person...
It sounds like they would have to be stupid to not accept you so just try to stay calm lol. With those things and the broad connection it's gonna be easy for you.
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12 minutes ago, immuno91 said:
Yes, and I'm telling you what I know as a former member of a BBS lab and currently enrolled student in a DMS program. There are plenty of labs that aren't in BBS. Galit Alter, Shiv Pillai, Todd Allen, Sarah Fortune, Sylvie Legall, Mike Brenner, and Ramnik Xavier are PIs that are not part of BBS - if you want a non-exhaustive list of names. Moreover, the comment about needing a mentor in your program is not entirely true. I know that I can join a lab outside of my program, the only rule is that two members of my DAC (including the chair) need to be from my program.
The point is - yes, BBS is very flexible. But most other programs, at least within DMS, are also fairly flexible. Some may require out of program PIs to join the program, but a lot don't. Plenty of MCO students join labs based in Longwood that are not part of MCO. Some BPH students join labs in Virology and Immunology that aren't part of BPH. BBS is flexible, but there are non-BBS labs. However, any graduate student with sound reason can rotate in any HILS lab if the PI is accepting students. Half of my program has done out of program rotations that were (extremely) tangentially related to the program topic, but they were signed off on without question.
I'm glad I got this pot stirred. *gets popcorn*
It matters so much guys.
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On 12/20/2016 at 5:19 PM, Lurpelis said:
Certainly possible, it's also that WashU was my first pick and they decided so early I've got a very blase attitude towards the other three. I'm not convinced there's a plethora of Comp Biol applicants with very heavy CS background like I have.
Let's hope so. But I also have a heavy CS background. And I agree with @Epigenetics. These programs aren't that big. It doesn't take many excellent candidates to get shouldered out.
WashU is excellent in computational biology/genetics as well. I mostly didn't apply because I didn't want to live in St Louis.
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13 minutes ago, desmond.bo said:
This forum becomes our last hope lol. Checking the updates every half an hour.
Can't concentrate on ANYTHING.
Well, honestly if there is no gradcafe, we would be even more anxious right?
I'm convinced that gradcafe is terrible for me, but I am powerless against it.
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The silence from Seattle continues... They have sent out invites on December 17th for most years so they are behind schedule. They had a Faculty meeting on the 12th before their holiday party according to their calendar... I really have a hard time believing that nobody here is going to get an invite from them. @Epigenetics working at the Broad/HMS, I'm at 10x genomics, @Oddich55 seemingly getting every interview invite under the sun... I don't buy it. Someone here is getting an invite. I know several students there and my background is better (not trying to brag, it's just my honest opinion). Some years the rejections went out on December 18th lol. They had to be running late THIS year.
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41 minutes ago, Epigenetics said:
You can't join Whitehead labs (that is an MIT institute) and with the Broad the faculty has to be affiliated with Harvard and BBS, so you can't work with MIT professors at the Broad. The website has a list of all the faculty in the program if you're confused.
I didn't apply to BBS, but BIG. But one of the professors I contacted who had posts in statistics and molecular biology (both fields for which I am not a great candidate for, but our research interests aligned pretty well) said that he could take students from pretty much any scientific harvard program and potentially even from some MIT programs with approval. He said it was it was very open. He did say that for interviews if you want to talk to a given professor outside of the department, you would have to ask and they would have to be available/want to meet.
While I know that many here are more knowledgeable about this than I am, I would say don't make your decisions based on things mentioned in this forum. Ask the program, and ask the program if exceptions can be made with approval. Ask them about specific professors because even that could change the answer.
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8 minutes ago, abc0111 said:
has anyone heard back from BMI at Stanford or Harvard BIG?
Don't expect anything from stanford biomedical informatics until january 5th or 6th. To our knowledge nobody has heard from Harvard BIG but I'm hoping it will be in the coming few days.
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The silence...
Anything to report guys? Still nothing here.
The struggle is real lol.
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2 hours ago, desmond.bo said:
Happy holiday guys!
So what should we expect this week? Any of MSKCC tri-instit, Princeton QCB, MIT, Harvard sysBio, et cetera?
I think we should expect Harvard BIG this week. In the past they have sent between Dec 17th and 21st. Tho a few years they have sent in january... I hope not.
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33 minutes ago, systemicpoisoning said:
What's wrong with New Haven? I have never lived there, so..
My PhD goal is to combine web & dry labs... so your list is a bit foreign to me. I didn't major/minor in CS, so I am a bit worried that I will be blindsided in comp bio PhD. Can you recommend how I could improve my CS skills? I am learning basic algos and data structures right now, and solving online CS problems to work on my coding skills, but any tips would be appreciated haha.
Also, why not Caltech?
I have been in new haven a few times. I dunno. I didn't like it. Seems like an in-between place. It's not NYC. It's not in the country. It doesn't have the culture of Boston. There are some really bad parts to it as well. It's probably great but for whatever reason I am biased against it.
Coursera stanford algos courses (2 of them) are great. MIT open courseware algos class is also great (has a bit more depth but less breadth). I find its good to group algorithmic ideas into a few paradigms (divide and conquer, dynamic programming, graph algorithms, machine learning, search methods, etc) and then when you have a new problem ask yourself if any of those might work. Not sure about the comp bio/bioinformatics open courseware. Presumably the one by Pevsner is good, but it was too basic for me and i lost interest. CS is a fast moving culturally driven thing. Honestly just being friends with people who do serious CS and/or serious comp bio is a big part of learning and keeping up. The other thing is being okay with not knowing what you are doing. Doing a new project? Write it in a new language or framework. Having a decent project is the hardest part to learning a new language. The rest is google, trial and error, and learning. Ask questions if you dont understand something! Also stats. Take more stats. Take more math in general. Take optimization, combinatorial optimization, numerical optimization, numerical methods, statistical mechanics. Take anything graph algorithms, probabalistic/randomized algorithms, probabilistic inference, machine learning, graphical models, anything with the name Markov in it lol.
Caltech I also didn't much look into. I am aware that Lior Pachtor just moved there and he is very good. I just had too many schools already on the list at that point. Also I am not a big LA fan either lol.
UCSD is the other major program that I didn't apply to. I couldnt really find anyone besides Pevsner who I would want to work with.
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I honestly didn't know Yale CBB was any good and it is in New Haven... didn't have any professors I was already aware of at Yale and I just didn't look into it.
Right, Harvard BIG is the only program for which I do not know the interview date. Hopefully we will both find out next week! Here is hoping. Obviously so many good labs at harvard but I particularly like Steve Mccarroll, Isaac Kohane, Dan MacArthur, and Sean Eddy. But really there are just tons. And affiliation with the Broad Institute opens up many more as well as tons of data generation / support / collaborators / compute infrastructure. Damn. Waiting is tough.
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12 minutes ago, systemicpoisoning said:
Is MIT Biology/CSBi known to accomodate interviewees who cannot attent official recruitment weekends because of conflicts? I've looked at several threads about interview conflicts, but wanted to know if MIT, being so selective, would actually deign to individualize interview days...
PS: I haven't actually received MIT invite, just worried because it looks like I won't be able to attent either of their weekends
Probably they would. But that is one of the programs for which I would make no compromises. For me it looks like one of their weekends doesn't conflict with anything else so I don't have to make that decision luckily.
Some programs like Stanford biomedical informatics straight up says something like "we expect all candidates to attend from 5pm wednesday to 5pm saturday" or whatever the exact dates are. And that conflicts with Harvard/MIT HST interviews! Well I just hope that I am forced to make that decision lol.
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2 minutes ago, sivis said:
Congrats on interviews everyone! Just wanted to say that everyone here is super supportive and really nice, we definitely more of that in academia. For those of you still waiting, don't worry! It's still relatively early, we have time until the end of December! Don't lose hope. Have a glass of wine (or whatever your indulgent choice is) and relaaaax (I know, not possible). You gotta enjoy the days you have left before trading your life to research
Most of my programs don't send invites until January. Only 3 of them even send in December.
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10 minutes ago, Oddich55 said:
Got an interview at University of Chicago - Genetics, Genomics, Systems Biology
. They said they would reach out in the next few days and schedule an interview.
I'm dying here. You are getting so many interviews. At least its just that none of my programs have sent any yet. Now it won't be until Monday at the earliest. Well, I'm going backpacking this weekend to get off the grid and away from email...
Sad for all of you who got disappointments today. It's tough. Have some comfort whiskey... lol
Congrats to everyone with invites!
2017 Computational Biology/Biomedical Informatics PhD Applicants and Admission Results
in Biology
Posted
Did they email you or respond to an email you sent them?