aba1984

I personally think papers are overrated since many people can get their names crammed in there with little work. I've seen papers where four people got their names on it just because they went to the freezer to thaw a sample out. Mind you, this is a one person job and certainly not worth of a name on a publication. I guess it depends, but I personally approach publications with skepticism. At least with a thesis, you're signed up for the corresponding credit hours and are expected to know your project inside out. Of course, if you're first author and your professor is the only other author, that's a whole 'nother story.

Yay, we will finally get our proper rejection emails j/k

Totally off topic, but I was researching on the WuSTL DBBS program and came across this stat for minorities from a few years back: 50 applications, of which 29 interviewed, of which 20 were offered admission. Of those admitted, 55% end up abandoning their PhD studies . So if you're a minority, you have a 40% chance of being admitted to WuSTL. Not bad.

Yes, I was here for the brutal days Just wanted to make sure it was for genetics since we have a lot of neuro/immuno folks.

Knightrunner, when did you get your WuSTL rejection? I applied to the same program, but no word yet.

I have pretty much the same stats as you do and already got 2 interviews at pretty good schools - they're both in "top 50" for biomedical. You should do just fine

So jealous! I can't even get them to reply to my darn emails. Please make sure to tell them during your interviews to send their rejections ASAP to those of us who are staring at our emails hehe

How long did it take you guys to get an itinerary from the program coordinators after accepting the interviews?

The way I made my decisions is by looking at the Peterson's guide. If you go to Google books and type Peterson's graduate programs biomedical (or some keywords like that), they have yearly books where they list all the MS and PhD programs in the biomedical sciences. They tell you how many applicants there, how many are admitted, whether they favor internationals or minorities, deadlines, what funding you get, acceptance rates %, etc. Not sure how accurate it is, but it's a pretty impressive collection, and you save time because you don't have to click around multiple websites.

Has anyone heard from Baylor College of Medicine's Molecular and Human Genetics program? My #1 choice, so I'm very nervous.

How long did it take for the coordinators to send you trip/booking information after accepting the interview? For one of my interviews, the coordinator received all my info and confirmed that she'll get back to me 17 days ago, but I have not heard anything yet. At the same time, I don't want to be a bother since I noticed people just started posting interview invites for this school today, so maybe she's waiting to accumulate each group to send a mass email? The interview is in 2 weeks. WWYD?

There seems to be an inverse relationship between the voting score and the number of interview offers in the signature. I'm tempted to graph this lol.

I was notified by the program coordinator by email. I wouldn't freak out if I were you - you guys are neuro and immuno and I'm genetics, so maybe they have different people review. Plus, I was given an option from 4 interviews - it sounded like there was space still since they just notified me a few days ago. It didn't come across like any one particular date was already full. And some advice if you applied to UMiami - check your email daily - they only gave me three days to reply. Still trying to figure out when to schedule my exams and presentations before answering. Yikes.

Whoot whoot UMiami PiBS invite.

FYI 2 - even the South is closed - I saw a posting that University of Alabama will be closed tomorrow due to the weather on their FB page.

Compared to the influx of questionable characters that brought high crime with them to the Southeast over the 10 or so years, St. Louis is a dream city! I'm tired of having to select neighborhoods where I can go and can't go. St. Louis has a ton of good neighborhoods for students.

Micromajor, do you remember what date you applied and to which program? Congrats!

Mine: Best: Washington University in St. Louis (within 10 minutes, fixed a glitch and emailed me back, very nice) Worst: Vanderbilt University (very nice before I applied and then just no response after applying - already know what that means)

Since we're sitting around waiting....................... There's some programs that don't reply, no matter what, yet there's some that are answering every question you have. I wanna know: Which program were you most disappointed in and which went above and beyond to answer your questions? Best ______________ Worst _____________

How different can their research be to be the wrong fit? I find it hard to believe that a program that admits 70+ students would be harder to find a fit than, let's say one that accepts 20 students and thus has a smaller number of professors. The way that I can rationalize this is: Applicants are focused on WuSTL because it's their dream school so they are quick to post their rejection here, rather than an answer they got from a school who they did not focus on as much; Applicants may be bitter - if I had 4 years of experience and 4 publications, you bet I'd be posting my rejection too - just human nature; By posting these sudden rejections en masse, at a time when they know we will be most alert and chatty (right after New Year, but before classes start), you have to admit, that's some clever marketing to keep their competitive reputation up; They may have stretched themselves too thin, possibly by accepting too many students in previous years or lowering a budget, and this year may just be an idle and highly selective year for them; They may have to fill a specific queue, such as a set number of minority students or a limited number of internationals, and unfortunately perhaps too many applicants may be on the wrong side of that queue; Maybe we all got chopped at the GRE and GPA selection process and they just think all else thereafter is irrelevant; Or quite possibly, the "fit" of the program may have shifted from the "fit" of the majority of the students. I know in my MGG application, I made sure to say that I want to do translational research in molecular genetics. Now that I think about it, I'd be better served by a program of lower ranking, but one that offers more of a medical school feel. You never know what's going on. Maybe their committee members got in a fight and now they're saying, "Well, since you don't want this student that I selected, I don't want yours, either!!!" That would be horrible

Kevin, honestly, it's not that great, but I live in the South where generally scientific research is a bit more scarce for recent graduates, so maybe someone may give you a more optimistic answer. You might find an entry level lab technician job for $30k around here and may or may not do research. The good news is that you can get some pretty good raises if you prove yourself, stick around for a couple of years, or are willing to work odd shifts.

UTK feb 1

Did anyone see all those mass WUSTL rejections on the results page? Were they all for neuro or DBBS overall?

Yes, and I think the lack of response is also a sign of rejection. Been emailing Vanderbilt for 3 weeks now without a response - so now I'm pretty much psychologically primed for that rejection.

30-90% - it's anybody's guess. All I know that for my program, Emory accepts almost everyone and WuSTL accepts about 50% of their interviewees. I don't know about the others I applied to.