sunpenguin

Any thoughts about this? I received an invitation to interview in the same city where my other two interviews will be held next week. This newest invitation is for late Feb., but I have two free days between interviews next week during which I'll be staying in town. I just emailed them and asked whether it would be possible to interview on those days instead of the official weekend, while making it clear I would be more than happy to come to the official weekend if next week doesn't work. They haven't replied yet, and now I'm having second thoughts. Even if they say yest to working with my schedule, I might miss a lot by not being there for the official event. Any opinions from those of you who've already attended some interviews?

Fun question! It's looking very likely I'll be moving across country, so I'm hoping to turn the move into a camping road trip and visit some states I've never stopped in before. One thing I want to do before leaving California is go back to Yosemite one more time.

My situation exactly! I'm not counting on anything from Berkeley, but it was nice to know someone was interested in working with me.

To complicate matters with Berkeley, the IB web page says that if you aren't invited to the visit weekend, it does NOT mean you aren't still being considered. So after seeing that, I had to move Berkeley from my "assumed rejection" list back to my "still in the running" list. I spent a whole day there in November for an individual visit, because I was invited to spend the day at one particular lab, so maybe I'm still being considered, because it makes sense that they might not need to invite me to come back a second time. It's FAQ #9. Sorry to add this into the mix, because I know it's sometimes easier to assume you can check the university off the list as a rejection than to keep wondering whether you'll hear from them.

I also think this is good. $26K should be a comfortable living salary in State College.

People here in California wear boots pretty often, so it won't look weird at all. I would be too hot in boots here though. I find that people keep indoor temps a few degrees warmer in Cali than in colder climates

Is anyone else here going to the Harvard OEB recruiting event?

Okay, so it's not over unless I don't hear anything today. It was a weird situation because the POI seemed 100% interested in working with me, but there were a couple of obstacles as to whether he could support a new student next year. I will be more surprised if I get an invite today than if I don't! Good luck on your interview!

Thanks! You guys are awesome. And anyway, I can't complain, no matter what happens next, since I'm super excited about the one interview I have so far.

Thanks! I can't help thinking I'm out of the running, though...time will tell. Good luck with the interview! I'm sure it will be fun. I spent a day in my POI's lab a couple of months ago. It's a great department and great school. The POI seemed enthusiastic but he was doubtful about having funding for me, which is why I'm poised to accept that I'm probably not on the interview list.

Congratulations! Was this the official invitation you both received, or are you the two people who posted in Results saying you got an email from POI and official email will come later?

Depends on the university. Nine of the places I applied to haven't started sending out interview invitations yet, and in past years they didn't start sending them until late January. So I have one interview, two official rejections, three assumed rejections, and nine options still completely open (some of which I've already talked to and done individual or informal interviews with). Depending on where you applied, things may be far from over.

Congratulations!

I got the info from earlier in this thread. I also think you might be right that they're running a little behind their expected schedule.

It definitely sounded like the people who called were told that a lot of the Biosciences responses would happen on Monday.

I hear you! It's so much easier for family and friends to believe in us and know that it's all going to work out. When you're in the middle of waiting, it can feel like you'll be waiting forever.

Don't know but just wanted to say I listed the same two home programs as you, but in reverse order. I think I put Ecol and Evol first and genetics second. I really don't expect a Stanford invite, but I also don't think the invitations for our programs have gone out yet.

Thanks. I think that with those dates coming up so soon, they must have extended all their invitations already.

Congrats on getting eight interviews! Do you know if UW Biology has already sent out all their invites? I haven't heard from them and wonder if I should assume it's a no-go...

My last Brandeis LOR is in now!

Oops, forget this post. I meant to put it on another thread.

Nope, not me! I just noticed it too. One of my LORs still hasn't been submitted. This recommender is very enthusiastic about helping me out, but he's also completely swamped, and he usually submits the letters the day they're due. I understand your nervousness (even though I'm sure most invitations aren't going to go out until after the deadline), because I also find myself worrying that having that last LOR not come in until the last minute could hurt my chances, even though I know that's extremely unlikely.

Looks like in previous years they usually sent out invites on Thursday and Friday of the second week in January, so that would be the 9th and 10th this year.

This is a very personal decision. Most people advise against getting a master's first. However, there are some circumstances when it makes sense to do a master's first. I came from an unrelated undergrad degree, so I got a master's first, both to focus my research interests and to become a stronger candidate in my intended PhD field. I also chose this route because I was able to do it without going into debt. Whether a program is funded or unfunded should also play into the decision. Sounds like your son's reason would be to get a better GPA in a master's program, which is a legitimate reason, but if he doesn't really want a master's, for its own sake, applying directly to PhD programs might be the better choice. Or apply to some of both and see what happens.

I guess we'll be hearing from them a little later than most universities since their deadline is a bit later, but they're high on my list, too. Looks like in past years they sent interview invites pretty soon after the deadline, from mid to late January. So hopefully we don't have that long to wait!