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sqxz

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  1. Upvote
    sqxz reacted to juilletmercredi in NSF GRFP 2016   
    Congratulations to all of the new NSF fellows and to those of you who got Honorable Mention!
    I had an NSF myself in graduate school (2010-2013). This year, I had the pleasure of giving back to the program by serving as a reviewer It was certainly interesting viewing the process from the other side. There are many things about the reviewing process we're not supposed to talk about, but we can give high-level information and advice.
    As for getting good comments but still not getting the award - I know, that sucks. The truth is two-fold: 1) Some reviewers simply write more detailed and helpful comments than others; we are encouraged to give information that will help the student improve their proposal for a second application. I tried my best to give the kind of feedback I would want as an applicant; I think my comments were a bit longer than average. and 2) I know it sounds cliche, but there really are simply many more really good quality applications than NSF can give funding to. Sometimes there's truly nothing wrong with your app; it's just that enough people had even better apps (even slightly better) that they got the award instead. There has to be a cutoff somewhere
    Also, yes, we have a lot of applications to review and not a whole lot of time to do it. I'd say most people spent more than 5-7 minutes. I think I spent an average of 30 minutes per application. And...if you look at the timeline, this is happening during the winter holidays




    Yes, please spoon feed! Bolding, underlining, highlighting out sections, it ALL HELPS. Make it really easy for reviewers to find relevant parts of your application. Think of them skimming through your app quickly in between bites of lunch before class or while jumping around between sections when referring back to itto improve their notes or while adjusting their ratings or whatever. People miss things.


    I would say that's both true and untrue. It's untrue in the sense that there doesn't seem to be systematic bias against people who took time off, and in fact non-traditional routes can be highly valued. It's true in the sense that unfortunately non-traditional students may also be evaluated (consciously or unconsciously) differently - for example, on the basis of what they did in the interim time they took off. I think in that sense it's somewhat similar to other types of unconscious bias.
    Publications and how they are weighted will vary by field - basically how common is it for people in your field to have publications at your stage of the game? Remember, too, that the NSF applicants are probably on average more accomplished/competitive than the average doctoral student. That said, you certainly don't have to have publications to win an NSF; I'd wager most of them don't. (I didn't have any when I won mine.)




    This is really going to be an individual decision, I think, and it depends on the quality and strength of your application in other ways. But IMO I would say it's a good idea to include a recommendation from your advisor in your current program, even if you don't know them very well. First of all, there are early impressions that your advisor can give of you that can be useful for reviewers trying to make decisions. Second, that recommendation can signal support from your program and advisor. Since the Intellectual Merit criteria includes you being reviewed on the potential to succeed in graduate study, and support from the department and your graduate advisor are crucial for that, it can be a good idea to display that. (However, if you've got three really strong references from undergrad and you don't want to displace one, I would say don't. It's really a variable thing, and it can work either way.)
  2. Upvote
    sqxz reacted to elanorci in NSF GRFP 2016   
    Congrats sqxz!!! I remember you from the bio forums during my application cycle I'm so glad this worked out for you.
  3. Upvote
    sqxz reacted to elanorci in NSF GRFP 2016   
    I didn't even set an alarm or anything but woke up randomly a couple minutes ago, ha! 
    No award, got HM. VG/VG, VG/E. (Not sure why I didn't get more than two reviews -- anyone know how this is decided?) 
    I was really annoyed at first, largely since I think the comments are so dumb and unhelpful -- 2/3 of my VG ratings had only seemingly really positive comments ("X Y Z is really great!") and no apparent downsides. But after just a couple of minutes, I'm pretty over it. Gotta roll with the punches, right? And anyway, I definitely met people here who deserve it more and will benefit more. 
    Congrats to all who got it. (:
  4. Upvote
    sqxz got a reaction from lilacs in NSF GRFP 2016   
    I can hardly believe it, but I got it! I don't know how I'm going to sleep now...
    E/E, E/E, E/E
  5. Upvote
    sqxz got a reaction from elanorci in NSF GRFP 2016   
    I can hardly believe it, but I got it! I don't know how I'm going to sleep now...
    E/E, E/E, E/E
  6. Upvote
    sqxz reacted to Infinito in 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results   
    Just received my first official acceptance.
    Yay for knowing that I'll be going to graduate school  
  7. Upvote
    sqxz reacted to eeee1923 in 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results   
    I had a prof like this when I was interviewing. All I can say is ignore them - this is YOUR future. They're already have their PhD. It's unfortunate when profs aren't supportive (especially when you're having a successful application cycle). I ended up getting a B+ in the class from that prof but it didn't make much of a difference when I got all my acceptances. Good luck @MusMusculus! Work hard on your school work but make sure you do well on your interviews.
  8. Upvote
    sqxz reacted to bgk in 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results   
    Nope :-) 
    Just doing a few upgrades ... poor server has been barely hanging on for about a year.  I think I've got it back under control now.   Good luck everyone!
  9. Upvote
    sqxz reacted to Infinito in 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results   
    Back on the topic of graduate school interview attire and fashion.
    I wanted to make a few points to all the fleshy bags of anxiety out there, and to use some more examples for the guys since the girls have been dominating.
    1. Wear what makes you feel comfortable and clean. Clean being the operative word here. I was told by two program directors to not worry about wearing hiking/snow boots or jeans (as long as they aren't grungy or have holes in them). This emphasizes my point that as long as you look put together, it doesn't matter if you're wearing jeans. Here's a nice example (minus the glasses) of a somewhat business casual look that's office appropriate with jeans and would be fine at an interview. The basic point here is that you look good. Sneakers or a backwards cap would not look good with that ensemble. So just be mindful of the overall appearance. This goes for girls as well. 
    2. If you're being judged for what you wear, the program isn't right for you. You're not applying for beauty school. Nobody is interested in your being edgy either. But would you really want to spend the next 5-7 years with grad students and professors that will judge you by your choice of attire? Obviously, this is an extreme case but it should put your anxiety into perspective. Professors and graduate students also don't know where you're coming from. For all they know, you could have been homeless up until college where you received a full ride but didn't have enough money to buy a suit. They are not expecting you to wear a suit. But at the same time, decent people will understand that you are trying to make an effort. This goes back to my first point: looking clean and comfortable will make you look great and will bolster your confidence.  
    3. Nobody cares what purse or bag you carry with you. Most places will even have a closet or a place to store your bags before interviews since you don't really need pens or paper, or a C.V., etc. I'm bringing my computer to write down notes after interviews and fill out my all-encompassing spreadsheet that I'll use to rank and compare schools, but not during interviews. Either way, if you need to carry stuff, it doesn't matter what it's carried in since you can also just put it on the floor or behind your chair.
    4. If you're going somewhere cold, bring the winter gear. Nobody wants to put up with people shivering from the cold walks outside, You have been warned (especially for girls that want tights/leggings/skirts in lieu of pants). You're also only going for about 2-3 days, so you don't need to bring your whole wardrobe. A few versatile accessories being recycled between days is fine. If you're like me and will only be bringing your carry-ons, I'm just going to use my peacoat in lieu of a suit jacket and just wear that on the plane anyway as I don't have extract space in my carry-on luggage. A puffy winter jacket would be fine as well. And, as I alluded to in the first point, hiking/snow boots are completely fine to wear with slacks/khakis etc.
    As for what I'm packing:
    Travel clothes: Jeans (Clean/neat), Winter jacket, button down, sneakers (the nice Nice 5.0s that actually go with everything).
    Interview clothes: Oxfords, Khakis and Banana Republic Chinos. Button down and a cardigan or sweater. Bringing a blazer just in case for dinner night, but not expecting to use it and my winter jacket can suffice.
    Grad school student party/outing: Depending on the vibe (whether it's at somebody's house or at a bar), either the jeans or Chinos again (and matching shoes). Would probably still wear a button down. 
    Hope that helps!
     
     
  10. Upvote
    sqxz got a reaction from bioquant in Computational Biology PhD Program - Please help!   
    I can't comment on your chances with any of the other schools, but I think you have an excellent chance at UIUC based on the stats you've posted! We have had several students switch from the experimental side of things to the computational side of things or vice versa when transitioning from undergrad, so I do not think this should hurt you. In fact, one of the guys in my cohort came in with no computational/programming experience whatsoever. He is now happily settled in a purely computational lab, so I think having a minor in Computer Science will make you very competitive, even though you don't have any computational research experience. The important thing is that you have lots of other research experience. Just be sure to explain how your research interests changed and why in your SOP. (That goes for any program you apply to.) Also, unlike other universities, being an international student will not hurt your chances with our program, as the number of international students accepted is often greater than the number of domestic students accepted in any given year. For example, in my cohort, there were (originally) five domestic students and eight international students. 
     
    As to your question, I think all of the programs I applied to (see my signature) are worth taking a look at, depending on what kind of computational biology research you're looking for. I do agree with @aberrant that you should definitely be looking now for PIs whose research is of interest to you. When I applied, I found out (almost too late) that my interpretation of the overall focus of a program (as stated on the program website) often did not comport 100% with the research pursued by the faculty associated with the program. Unlike @aberrant, I do not necessarily think it will be a useful exercise to ask PIs at this point if they think they will be accepting students more than a year from now. In my experience, most PIs will not have a clue. However, establishing a good relationship with PIs whose work interests you early on can only benefit you throughout the application process, so I would advise you not hesitate to email these PIs if you feel like doing so.
     
    Finally, I feel that I have to note that I disagree with @aberrant's analysis of what is important in computational biology. Computational biology, at least by what I believe to be the most standard definition, requires a lot of knowledge of statistics and computer science, not chemistry or physical chemistry. Chemical or physical chemical knowledge is much more important when doing research that involves simulations of biomolecular systems, which typically falls into the field of computational biophysics or computational (quantum) chemistry, depending on what you're doing.
     
  11. Upvote
    sqxz got a reaction from Infinito in 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results   
    Welcome to the application season, future class of 2016! I wish you serenity, patience, and good fortune throughout the application process.
     
    I am a soon-to-be second year PhD student in the Center for Biophysics and Quantitative Biology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and I will be monitoring this topic throughout the year for posts with questions/concerns that I may be able to answer/address. If you have questions about any of the programs I applied to (especially my current program), my field, graduate school in general, or anything you think I may know about, please feel free to get in touch with me. A copy of my stats as they appeared in my applications can be found on my profile. Finally, in case I decide to change my signature at some point in the future, a copy of it can be found below:
     
    Attending: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign - Biophysics and Quantitative Biology (1/10, email; 3/20-3/22) (1/10, email) (4/10, website)
    Applied (8/8) - Interview/Visit Offered/Attended (7/8) - Rejected (5/8) - Accepted (3/8) - Admitted (1/8)
     
    Carnegie Mellon University-University of Pittsburgh - Computational Biology (1/22, email; 2/20-2/22) (2/28, unofficial email; 3/18, official email) Johns Hopkins University - Molecular Biophysics (4/11, email) Princeton University - Quantitative and Computational Biology (12/30, email; 2/6-2/8) (3/11, email) Rutgers University - Computational Biology and Molecular Biophysics (2/18, email; 3/26-3/27) (2/18, email) University of California, San Francisco - Biophysics (1/13, email; 2/13-2/15) (3/3, website)
    University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center - Molecular Biophysics (1/2, email; 1/9-1/11) (1/13, email)
    Washington University in St. Louis - Computational and Molecular Biophysics (12/19, phone, email; 1/30-2/1) (3/12, email)
  12. Upvote
    sqxz got a reaction from ballwera in First Year Students Fall 2014 How's It Going   
    Woo! Final grades are finally in! I ended up with 4 A+'s, 3 A's, and 3 S's for the year. I haven't had a 4.0 GPA or the opportunity to earn A+'s since high school! Also, I passed my qualifying exam, presented a poster and gave a talk at two conferences, and I'm working on my first publication. It was definitely a great first year, I'd say!
  13. Upvote
    sqxz reacted to ss2player in First Year Students Fall 2014 How's It Going   
    Wowza, that's really impressive! Can computational labs really pump out data that fast (i.e. ~6 months) for a poster/talk/full publication?
     
    I chose the wrong field! 
  14. Upvote
    sqxz reacted to Threeboysmom in First Year Students Fall 2014 How's It Going   
    Way to go!  Keep up the good work.  Your first year was incredible!
  15. Upvote
    sqxz got a reaction from kimmibeans in 2015 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results   
    Besides being exciting, it made me feel that the year's gone by so fast! Four of us who volunteered to be "guides" at our recruitment dinner last night met each other for the first time at the same dinner a year ago...thinking about that is just crazy!
  16. Upvote
    sqxz reacted to kimmibeans in 2015 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results   
    Same here! I'm helping with the events for our visit day next week and I am stoked! It is going to be awesome.
  17. Upvote
    sqxz got a reaction from kimmibeans in 2015 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results   
    It's so exciting hosting recruits! I really want to know who I'll be seeing again in the fall now!
  18. Upvote
    sqxz reacted to bsharpe269 in 2015 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results   
    Sigh... ok. I know I should. I'm just so excited. WashU!
  19. Upvote
    sqxz reacted to bsharpe269 in 2015 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results   
    Thanks so much for this advice! This is exactly what I needed/wanted to hear. I know where I want to go to school and I get along with the profs there so well. I have a ton of respect for them, both in research and otherwise. They all seem like genuinely kind people who love science and want their students to succeed. ALL of the profs I am interested in are taking students! They seem just as enthusiastic about recruiting me as I am about the possibility of going there... mainly becaucause it is absolutely a terrific fit. I think I needed to hear that I wasn't going to be making a bad career move by turning down the possibility of working with the famous professors. It sounds like it might be better to pursue opportunities in those labs as a post doc.
  20. Upvote
    sqxz got a reaction from poweredbycoldfusion in 2015 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results   
    In my opinion, choice of advisor is so much more important than choice of university. Have you asked your POIs at each of your top universities if they think they will be accepting students into their labs in the fall? If not, this might make the decision easier (or harder, depending).
     
    I also want to say that I think working for a "famous" professor as a graduate student might be overrated. Last semester, I did three lab rotations (one with a famous professor), and I had to choose which lab to join late last semester. I knew I wanted to join my current advisor's lab, but I felt I had to find out whether it would be significantly better for my career to join the famous professor's lab. After an extensive search, I could find no advice stating that it was advantageous to join a famous professor's lab as a grad student. All of the advice I found said that a grad student should join the lab with which he/she has the best fit. I think this advice is so common because, unless you're planning on winning an NIH Early Independence Award, the work that will get you your faculty position will most likely be the work you do as a post-doc. Grad school is a place to get the training you need to become an independent researcher, and as long as you're in a lab where you will have the opportunity to receive this training, make interesting discoveries, and publish frequently, I think you will have the opportunity to do the work needed to get the post-doc position you want. 
     
    As far as I can tell, the main advantage of working with a famous professor is increased visibility of your work. This would certainly be advantageous for a post-doc, but I do not see it being as advantageous for a grad student. It may make it easier for you to ultimately get the post-doc you want, but I suspect it won't be nearly as much help by the time you are applying for faculty positions. There are also many disadvantages of working for a famous professor. For me, the most important one is that there are a lot of "extras" that come with being a student of a famous professor. For example, the students in the famous professor's lab in which I rotated have to constantly make slides for the numerous talks this professor gives. Again, this is nice for the visibility of your work, but, if that visibility isn't going to do much for you, I feel it ends up being a big time-suck. The famous professor hosts a seminar series each semester, and his/her grad students have to entertain the invited speaker for a day each week. On the one hand, this is a nice opportunity for networking, but, on the other hand, you have to take time out of your day to drive to the speaker's hotel to pick him/her up and to shuttle the speaker from meeting to meeting. That doesn't exactly help you get your research done. The group also produces a calender each year, each student has to volunteer to TA for a week each semester for the professor's classes, etc., etc. The list goes on and on. Access can also be an issue with famous professors. Every productive professor is incredibly busy, but famous professors are that much busier. As I'm sure you can imagine, this can become problematic in a number of ways.
     
    So, for what it's worth, I would not put "potential to work for a famous professor, which will help me achieve my career goals" anywhere on your pro/con list. Hope this helps!
     
     
  21. Upvote
    sqxz reacted to gliaful in 2015 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results   
    I wondered about this when scoping out faculty at the beginning of this process. Would you think that MD/PhDs who are faculty would be even more likely to have prioritized research over clinical work? At the time, I tended to think they would be even busier people than the average busy faculty member because I assumed they all balanced both jobs.
     
    Totally unrelated PS: Anyone and everyone, take this waste-of-time "What kind of protein are you?" quiz, just because:
    http://www.cellsignal.com/contents/resources/what-kind-of-protein-are-you/protein-personality-quiz
    Also, it can waste even more of your anxiety-laden time if you treat it like a puzzle by taking it additional times and trying to work out what answers would correspond to each possible result.
  22. Upvote
    sqxz reacted to Vene in 2015 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results   
    I kind of wonder how you plan to do such. Do the days actually overlap or are they just close? Because every interview I went to was an all-day affair. I'm assuming with the dates you have listed that they expect you to arrive on the 5th, interview with professors on the 6th, and then have a fun event on the 7th. It can be possible to skip the fun event, but you absolutely need to be there during the time when you interview professors to have a shot.
  23. Upvote
    sqxz reacted to peachypie in 2015 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results   
    @lana 193 and lilbert 5: Regarding accepting interviews, I posted about this earlier in another thread. I'd recommend you have a list of the programs of most interest to you to lowest and rank them. I'd do the research to find out which, if any of the schools, may have overlapping interviews. If you hear from a program ranked lower to you than another before you hear from a more favorite than I think you have a few options. First, I'd find out when you need to respond to the offer or clarify with them if you are unsure. I understand you want to do it as soon as possible, but remember its in your best interest not to feel pressured to respond immediately. I'd either reach out to the program you think or know conflicts with that one and express your interest, "dear admin person, I remain very interested in your program and hope to get the opportunity to attend your recruitment weekend, I was wondering when the interview/recruit weekend is likely planned for and when you will be notifying recruits/interviewees if you have not already. I have been offered an interview that may conflict with your program and I wanted to touch base with you before proceeding" Or something to that effect. I feel like most programs either post their weekend dates or at this stage in the game would be happy to let you know when it'd be happening. And don't worry almost all programs will have a way to make it work if all else fails and you have to make your own visit or an alternative visit weekend. However, I was in a bind where I had thought my top choice had already sent out all their interviews, I ended up saying yes to another school as a result and within 12 hours was called by my top choice for an interview for that very same weekend. It was disappointing to say the least, however, I did not cancel the other program as that was again..poor form... instead I did an alternate interview for my top choice (unideal I know!). I was still admitted. Don't worry about it but remember this: Its not fair to school's to say yes and then no. They either have already purchased airfare for you, rejected or waitlisted other interviewees etc due to your response. A lot of programs have a budget, meaning your airfare eats into their ability to bring others or limits who they can bring. Remember its not all about you, as much as this is your future, it impacts not only other applicants (some of who may be on this very list just waiting to hear good news) as well as your possible future program. Try to be kind in making your decisions and the responsibility of your commitment. Again as soon as I completed my interviews within a week I had made my decision and sent my accept/reject of offers over a month before the deadline (April 15th)...this was in an effort to allow others on waitlist to hear the news they were waiting for.
  24. Upvote
    sqxz reacted to katiegud in First Year Students Fall 2014 How's It Going   
    I'm 1000 words behind where I was hoping to be today, and I'm incredibly unmotivated. I don't want to write, I don't want to read, I just want to go back to bed. 
  25. Upvote
    sqxz reacted to Crucial BBQ in 2015 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results   
    In terms of the Big 10, I gotta go with the Gophers. I was partial to Nebraska back when I was living in Kansas...then I ended up in Minneapolis. 
     
    What school do you follow in New York 
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