HerpinDerps

Molecular Biosciences. Not sure which program I'll end up joining.

I just accepted my offer for a PhD through the Division of Basic Sciences! Woooooooooooo!

Thank you! It was a very hard choice to eliminate WashU! Actually, now I'm having second thoughts about taking it out of the running... Any of these schools would be amazing. I felt more of a connection to the research at UTSW than I did at WashU, but it's like comparing things that are awesome with things that are perhaps-slightly more awesome.

Shameless bump! I should add that I've narrowed it down to U Chicago vs UTSW. With Chicago, I love the city, and the overall school culture. There are some amazing faculty, but not nearly as many as there are at UTSW, so it might be harder to find a PI match. I fell in love with the research at UTSW... but it's in Texas. Which means I would be surrounded by Texans.

I just found out that I've been accepted into all three of my top picks for a PhD in Molecular Biosciences (different departments all under one umbrella program, etc.). It's wonderful news! Except that now I actually have to make a choice. All three are in liveable places- Chicago would be the most expensive, but I've been told that Hyde Park is actually pretty reasonable. Right now I'm just trying to come up with criteria that would help me decide. Any and all opinions would be welcome!

Somebody on the Results Search page just got accepted to "Peen State."

Thank you! Yes, I just wanted to add some basic programming to my acumen, and I still learned quite a bit. I just had too many balls in the air (lots of grad school applications, lol) when the final rolled around. Thanks again for the reassurance- I had a moment of total panic!

For cold weather, I've found that you can't go wrong with cashmere- I wear nice ponte-knit slacks (ponte is the best!) with a button-down and a cashmere sweater on top, and 100% cashmere socks, which are about $40 online and totally worth it. I've been on four interviews now with a lot of walking, and my feet were toasty and comfy in low heels, which look great with slacks.

Okay, that's pretty reassuring, as I have done none of those I may still try and take a self-paced course in the same topic to raise my grades in that subject area.

No, I listed the class on my application as "course in progress," because at the time I applied, it still was, with a couple of weeks left to go in the class. I didn't bring it up at my interview, but then again, grades/GPA were not really a topic of discussion.

So, I just received an official offer of acceptance from a very prestigious PhD program (in the Biological Sciences) that was among my top choices. The letter is signed by the Dean, contains funding info, etc. However... I graduated from my undergrad more than a year ago, but I decided to take some programming courses at a local community college and totally bombed (D) one because of a bad final exam. Because this PhD program had a fairly early application deadline, that particular grade was not reflected in the unofficial transcripts I sent. This grad program requires official transcripts to be sent in upon acceptance. What will happen when they see my awful grade? Will they overlook it because it's just a CC class and not a required course for my major? What exactly constitutes "discrepancies" between unofficial and official transcripts? I suppose I should note that their website states that there is no required minimum GPA for admissions. Any help/advice would be appreciated!