elanorci

CONGRATS!!! That's so awesome!!!! I'm so glad it worked out for you :D

Congrats sqxz!!! I'm so happy that everything worked out for you and that you're happy with the decision. :D I've just decided to accept the Harvard Biophysics offer! I'm still contemplating a one-year deferral, so I'm not sure if I'll be in Cambridge this fall or next, but boy does it feel great to have this finally nailed down.

I just informed Harvard Biophysics of my intent to accept their offer! (I haven't officially accepted it yet because they're helping me work out some logistics with considering a one-year deferral, but everything should be official within the next few days.) It's been a wild ride! I'm reposting my stats and results here to help future gradcafers. If I could do one thing differently, it would be to think more carefully before accepting interview offers. I accepted 7 interview offers because I didn't think about waiting to see how many I got before accepting them; this turned out to be way too many for me, and I ended up awkwardly canceling two of them shortly beforehand. There's no harm in holding off on accepting interview offers for a few weeks, and if like me you're lucky enough to get a good number of them, doing so could save you a lot of travel fatigue and/or cancellation guilt. I feel extremely lucky to have gotten offers to several wonderful programs and to now be extremely excited about the program I've chosen to attend - because I think a lot of this IS luck! The lesson I take from this is that I now feel very humbled to have ended up somewhere that I think I'll be very happy, and that I'd also urge people whose application seasons didn't go how they wanted not to feel like it reflects too much on them or their abilities as scientists. By all means work to make your application as strong as possible, but don't let the sometimes highly subjective decision of an admissions committee define how you feel about your academic or personal worth. Good luck to everyone in future gradcafe generations. Keep calm through all the waiting; I know it's hard, but the worrying doesn't get you anywhere! (: Undergrad Institution: Top 5 research (ivy) Major(s): Molecular and Cellular Biology Minor(s): Philosophy GPA in Major: 3.7 Overall GPA: 3.8 Position in Class: Probably between 10 - 15% Type of Student: Domestic female GRE Scores (revised version): Q: 91% V: 98% W: 99% Biochem: 92% Research Experience: ~2 years in an HHMI lab. No publications. Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Nothing, really. Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Tutored genetics and multivariable calculus for a couple summers. Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: None. Applying to where + results: Harvard Biophysics (accepted, attending) MIT Biology (accepted) Berkeley Biophysics (declined interview) Caltech Biology (accepted) Baylor College of Medicine Structural and Computational Biology and Molecular Biophysics (accepted) Stanford Genetics (declined interview) Princeton Quantitative & Computational Biology (accepted) Duke Cognitive Neuroscience Admitting Program (accepted)

Definitely true. Even if you don't have access to the handbook, you can just email the dept administrator to clarify (that's what I did, and I got a very helpful response, even if it wasn't what I wanted to hear).

Many departments to which I applied do actually add to your stipend. This is a way of incentivizing students to apply for these kinds of fellowships; they save money when you get one even if they add a bit on the top, so it's likely a net positive for them to incentivize people in this way.

This is the same conundrum I'm facing now. I emailed one of my schools and inquired about the specifics of the monetary offer (because the area is so expensive, I'm concerned about $$) and they got back to me with very helpful details about what fees I do / don't have to pay out of my stipend. I feel weird about explicitly asking for a raise / fellowship, but I'm hoping that, like some people here, if I sit on the offer for a while, they'll spontaneously offer me something, perhaps as other people turn them down. So personally I'm going with the waiting longer approach. I know that it's hard for the people on the waitlist, but they can always accept them after the April 15th deadline; it'll be harder for them to accept such an offer, given that they'll have to break a commitment to another school, and I do feel bad about that. But this is our livelihood! I feel like making sure that we get the best monetary arrangement that we can is worth some inconvenience to the waitlisters, given that we'll have to live with this arrangement for /six years/.

Feel free! I love talking about Houston to anyone who will listen And thanks a lot!

Congrats!! I grew up in Houston and really love it there; I think you'll love it too

I too was waiting for a pun. Darn.

Just sent my first decline of an offer... I really loved the program even though it just wasn't right for my interests, and it feels like being punched in the gut. The first is probably the hardest, and I know that they probably don't care nearly as much as I do, but still -- all the wonderful faculty that I met makes it so hard. T_T

One criticism of BBS that I've heard (at the recruiting weekend for a different grad program) is that it's "too big." Both professors and grad students seem to say this. I don't have specifics on what downsides there are to this, but I get the impression that the program might lack student attention and that people feel they're getting lost in the shuffle? That's really speculative, but it's my impression. Good luck with the decision! They're both so great that you can't really go too wrong (:

Thanks for all the feedback re: stipend negotiation, all. While I don't agree that paying one person more would mean that they'd have to pay everyone more (isn't this the nature of the special fellowships we get?), I've decided not to bring it up to the program myself, because it seems that many people might perceive it negatively. I'm going to sit on these two offers for a while as I think about whether the money is worth it to me, look more closely into these programs, ask grad students about the cost of living, etc. I might ask current students or the program itself about possible avenues for stipend supplementation that aren't a straight-up bonus that the program or my PI would have to be responsible for, like whether I would get extra money if I got an NSF grant (as in many programs) or if I could teach more - these are great ideas, so thanks to everyone who suggested them! Thanks again!

The cost of living is about the same in these areas, and the health insurance package is basically the same. I'd definitely prefer the area of program B in addition to feeling that it's a better research fit, but I'd like to get some additional stipend if I can, so I'm wondering if asking them to match or partially match program A's offer is too gauche. The 3k a year wouldn't be an enormous difference, but it would be really nice! The stipend conditions are basically the same, except that one program requires TAing for one semester and the other for two, but that's not a huge deal for me (I love teaching). The programs are both great in terms of research fit and interests (they're my first and second choices), but I prefer program B by a nontrivial margin and would also be happier in that area. Basically, if it weren't for the money, I would be extremely happy with program B - I'm just wondering if I can ask them to make up for at least some of the difference.

Hey guys, How does everyone here feel about stipend negotiations? There are some threads on it in "The Bank," but I'd like a perspective from people as close as possible to my field. Basically, program A has made me a very generous stipend offer. I prefer program B in terms of research fit, but program B made a less generous stipend offer. The difference is 3k a year for the entirety of the program, so over 6 years, it'd be close to 20k! To be fair, it's not like I would have trouble surviving on either stipend, but it would make a significant difference in terms of my quality of life above the baseline. Is it a no-no to talk to program B about whether they could raise my stipend? If I tried and they said no, would it be really awkward / would they dislike it? Any advice is much appreciated (:

Not exactly the same situation, but I'm a biology major and I successfully applied to biophysics programs. As long as you have the preparatory courses that the programs (usually) list on their website, I think you'll be fine. Good luck!

With regard to BBS: I did not apply and have no idea about the atmosphere of the program, but multiple Harvard professors + current grad students have told me that it's "too big" (for their taste, whatever that means). Interesting comment.

After literally more than a month of waiting to hear back from Princeton and finally getting an acceptance devoid of actual information about the offer (literally 3 separate emails all of which told me that I would get information from someone else), I have to go through some netID setup process to see my fellowship/stipend information... Only to have it not work, to call their IT people, and to be told that the problem is on the graduate school's end. ? really? I wouldn't care at all except that it's getting late and I'd like to make a decision to get back to as many schools as possible so that people can be taken off the waitlist etc.... First world problems, I know, but I'm not too impressed at the moment. \rant

It's pretty much down to Harvard, Baylor, and Princeton. I was heavily leaning toward Harvard (like I was pretty much convinced) until the mention of the Princeton fellowship. I guess I can't really try to make up my mind until I see the details. Also, congrats on your wonderful outcome!!! Duke is an awesome school and it looks like they gave you an amazing stipend (especially for Durham, where housing is so wonderfully cheap).

Just got an acceptance from Princeton QCB by phone. I missed this call (DGS left a voicemail), as well as one yesterday... Why do they always call when I'm in class??? I probably seem super flaky :/ Anyway, hooray! This marks the official end of my application season -- all of my decisions are in!!! What an enormous relief. No more waiting. I thought I knew where I was going to pick, but then Princeton offered me some kind of special fellowship, and now I'm up in the air again... I'll have to do some serious thinking after they (snail mail!!!) me the details.

I've recently gotten two acceptances that were in very thin envelopes. Granted I got an acceptance e-mail beforehand so I knew what to expect, but acceptance mailings aren't always big!

Sorry to hear that :/ best of luck with your remaining apps!

For all the people waiting on Princeton QCB: I missed a call from them this morning and thought that must be it, but they didn't leave a voicemail, and shortly afterward I got an email from the program coordinator saying that they're processing my reimbursement, so maybe that was what the call was about.... who knows.

I'm new here and have mostly been posting in the biology forums (it's complicated) but figured I'd chime in and say that I just got accepted at the Cambridge MPhil program. Probably won't go as I didn't apply for internal funding and the external funding that I thought was likelier fell through, though. ): Does anyone have any ideas about funding possibilities? I know it's a shot in the dark, but feel free to pm me or post here if you have thoughts!

I do too! Although - that was my impression when I visited, but I've since heard some pretty alarming stuff about the program that's giving me second thoughts... PM me if you're interested (anyone), as I'm not too into gossiping here.

I haven't heard anything either. :/