Adenine_Monarch

Oh, and what's the deal with OHSU PMCB? I think everything was supposed to be sent out by late December? Can anyone confirm? Thanks.

I haven't replied back to the coordinator yet. Her "wishing me luck" at the end of her message has kind of deflated me which is why I asked about admissions chances. I want to reply back today (so that means VERY soon) but I can't decide what tact I should take. I haven't asked about a Skype interview. That's a good idea. As for whether first or later interviews make a difference, I just asked the Utah coordinator this yesterday. The official answer is "no," of course but she did mention how tired everyone can sometimes be by the second or third interview event and how people whose apps were turned in sooner tend to get the earlier dates so....not to increase your stress or anything but that's what she mentioned. If you do your best and are genuine and interested, I'm sure you'll be fine. It's the people who are not working as hard that will probably come off looking worse during later recruitment events since space is filling up and everyone is probably a little less patient than before. Word! Welp, I'll cross Berkeley off the list!

1. I "grew up" in a gene therapy laboratory so that topic has always been my baby. The idea of correcting genes (or inserting correct genes) has always fascinated me. I'm also big on immunotherapy and any form of translational medicine. My PI was a doctor and there was always a clinical side to our lab, so going from bench to bedside is a big deal to me. 2.) The three examples you mentioned are all problematic to me. As one poster said, it is annoying to try to research POIs and realize you have little access to their work unless you are on university servers. Money is and will always be an issue. Coming from California, I have seen just how much difference CIRM has made for researchers interested in regenerative medicine, for example. That was a boatload of money that might never have been there if votes had turned out differently. The lack of scientific literacy in the general population is definitely a peeve to me. I wish there was some better way to teach science and get people interested in it. Not knowing basic things like how the body works or how evolution works is, in my mind, tantamount to not knowing how to add or multiply.... 3.) I guess because of my line of work, I have a particular fondness for E. coli, mice and HIV (the basis for all lentiviral vectors). 4.) I love DNA so I've always gotten a kick out of any sort of DNA purification (plasmid, genomic, micro whatever) especially when you do it the old fashioned way of winding it around a glass rod. I also like mouse work. Any sort of PCR is hard to master. I have a love/hate relationship with it. Quantitative PCR was my specialty and I got pretty good at it. But it's like training a puppy; you constantly have to be on it or it gets out from under you and your data comes out looking crappy if you put that plate in on a day when you were tired... TIP: Careful, slow pipetting can make a HUGE difference....! 5.) I was proud of successfully troubleshooting and designing a qPCR based genotyping method for our lab. I always felt pride in passing on knowledge to other students/fellows/whoever. And I was very proud to discover clear cut evidence on a question we were asking that went straight into our paper. I also killed a large Southern blot gel tank once by accidentally pushing it off the shelf onto the bench opposite me. I also got my x and y axes mixed up on some FACs data I was presenting one time. Mortifying when my PI pointed it out and was mad at me afterwards....

Thanks for the dates. That's the one I could do even though it is on the tail end of another interview. But because I live close, it's no problem. Is it possible to be "wait listed" for a date? I'm sure cancellations and conflicts come up, after all....

feet first

Dumb question I guess, but if you can't attend an interview for a school that invites you for recruitment, does that mean you are basically rejected? Is there any way to still be admitted? Having a small conflict myself. UC Irvine offered me Feb 6-8 which I can't do since that seems to be the most popular interview weekend of all. I told them I couldn't do it and the coordinator basically said that their January date is full (what date is this exactly for anyone who knows or is going?) and oh well, sorry you won't be able to join us.... Is there any hope? I want to respond to the coordinator but I'm not sure how.

moon rocks

Seriously. I've got six to worry about now and starting to feel slight panic setting in about getting it all done and being ready....gah. Sad about Berkeley MCB probably being a no at this point, but *tries to look on bright side* it's one less interview to plan! Especially as I'd probably have to rearrange flights to accommodate it!

Interviews at University of Utah are jan. 23-26, feb 6-9 and feb. 20-23 for anyone who wants to know....

ceiling fan

youth advocate

Cool! Maybe I still have a chance

I did. Interview is Jan. 16-17 and acted like I could make other arrangements with them but I just went with the set interview weekend.

Still waiting to hear from Berkeley MCB, OHSU, Irvine CMB, Caltech Bio, Scripps and UTSW....even though I'm pretty sure I've seen invites go out already for all of these. Anyone know which of these schools batches their invites or if they send them on a rolling basis? I'm wondering which ones are probably rejects at this point....

Sorry about the batch UCSF rejections....have stayed off this forum for a few days now and it was sad to see upon returning today Let's hope for good luck next week!

apartment complex

screw up

school bus

Did anyone else apply to Scripps Research Institute?

lab coat

male chauvinist

Applied to USC Nov. 18 (and actually heard back about a week later...before their actual deadline even... ). Applied to Baylor Nov. 24.

I actually keep thinking about that...the sort of scenario where I just don't hear from a school in forever and wonder what I should do about it (assume the obvious? call? forget about it?). I think it would bug me not to have it straightened out one way or the other, though. And then find out: REJECTED! .... on April 16, of course.

Well, look at it this way...at least it means you're still in the running Good luck.

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