TheCubaLibre

As my application season now officially comes to a close - courtesy of a long time coming rejection email from UTSW - I would like to say thanks to everybody for sharing in this roller coaster ride. It's been real! Best wishes to all, especially those applicants who did not get accepted into their choice of graduate programs this year. As someone who had this happen to him in the prior application cycle, I urge you not to give up in the face of adversity, if earning a doctorate is truly your dream; hang in there, improve your application, and give it another go. I can assure you that your reaction to your first acceptance (of hopefully many) next season, will be even more special given the fact you persevered! I will do my best to return to the forum this fall/winter to provide encouragement and advise to next year's crop of candidates. Until then, I'll be incommunicado.

Oh hey R*****, I didn't know you had a profile on this forum lol. (If you ignore my profile's picture and listed location, you should be able to figure out who I am.) Congrats on committing to Penn BMB - phenomenal program! I am currently trying to decide between NYU Sackler Mol. Biophysics and Rochester BSCB. If anybody out there has any advice or opinions on these programs, I welcome your comments.

Has anybody in UTSW's hold category recently heard back from UTSW's Division of Basic Sciences? I reaffirmed interest in their program a little over a month ago (on 2/7) and never heard anything back. It would be a nightmare if I accepted an offer, then received either an interview invitation or acceptance offer from UTSW! FYI, I received my "official admissions decision update" with notice of my placement in the hold category on February 6th in an email from D. Evalds. I know a few folks on this forum received their's a few days after me, which implies that I am by no means atop this waiting list. Thanks

Just received the best news of this year: "Congratulations! We are pleased to offer you admission to the Molecular, Cellular, and Structural Biology Ph.D. program at the University of Minnesota." So stoked right now!

Earlier today, I called the BBSP office at UNC-Chapel Hill to inquire about my application status. The lady who picked up the phone (Sue) said ALL the interview invitations have been sent out for the BBSP training programs and informed me I was rejected. She also said that many applicants will not receive formal notification of rejection for several weeks, mentioning some crap about how it will come through the UNC graduate school. I was betting on an interview invitation from UNC-CH, and am very disappointed in the outcome. On another note, does anyone know if UTSW is done sending out interview invitations? Also, I applied to a joint molecular biophysics and structural biology program between Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University. Has anyone received any news from that program? Thx

Only one post … Doesn't appear to be an indication of a mass rejection. There still may be hope =)

Thanks for calling Kimthi1011, and I agree with you that it's irresponsible; there is a right way to reject applicants and a wrong way to reject applicants. Did they say explicitly that they would be sending out more interview invitations? I know they already sent out a first wave as my former lab mate got his back in mid-December.

Just got rejected from Michigan PIBS. Was hoping for an interview there, especially since it was my second time applying. In general, do programs give you a more thorough look if you are a returning applicant? All thoughts are appreciated.

Still no news yet from Michigan PIBS. Thinking about calling them soon.

Thanks for the update tuba250. Anybody have any additional news concerning UNC BBSP invites?

I (and I am sure many lurkers) appreciate your calls to Michigan, tcmazer! I am in the same boat as molecularmagic, and was not rejected from Michigan today, while others were - 5 people, in fact, on the results search, which is indicative of a mass rejection by Michigan. Should I be optimistic for a PIBS invite on Monday? Why would they wait until Monday to reject me (other then to fill me with unneeded anxiety over the weekend)? Any knowledge/predictions concerning this enigmatic move by Michigan would be much appreciated.

Hey sqxz, what were the interview dates at UT Southwestern for their Molecular Biophysics program? Congrats on the invite by the way =)

Thanks for calling tcmazer! I'm waiting for news from UMich PIBS as well. On another note, I got a interview invite today from the Univ. of Rochester Medical Center. I really liked the fact that a professor, who I emailed a few days prior, called me to extend the interview invitation. I wish more schools would call; to me, it's a sign of classiness. Best of luck to everyone this week!

What were the interview dates, if you don't mind? Also, what training program in PIBS did you apply for? Thx

Thanks for the Michigan PIBS info, wolbachia0908, and congratulations on your interview! I sincerely hope that the PIBS interview offers are progressing department by department; in fact, I kind of suspect it as their recent behavior in no way models last year's. I know first-hand that UNC-CH BBSP operates in the aforementioned manner. Any folks out there been offered interviews from the Biophysics grad program in PIBS?? Thank you