tito balisimo

I don't think vene ever said they went to an LA based school that is part of the CSU system. 

Ted Binsky I think the important thing is to realize is the context of your response. You replied to peachypie's comment to berba9 who if you look at what programs they applied to are all funded PhD programs. So in berba9's specific case, it likely cost more to public schools to fund him/her than a private school.

One masters applicant posting many times in the last few pages doesn't mean there are tons of masters students. 
I don't check results thread, unfunded phds in bio are rare in many of the top schools.  Top 30-50 would be all pretty much 100% funded.
Also your is possessive, "you're incorrect" is what you  meant to say.
I don't know your state school.
I never said I was from california.  I'm not an LA native, so I don't know why you are faulting me for that or how it factors into your argument.  There have been aarticles from UC system schools in bio that show they post about 10-15% international students, so I haven't found any at about 40% as you had mentioned.
You must be basing your whole understanding of graduate schools on UC system which isn't fair to assess all the programs in the country off of the public system in california which probably is working with a tighter budget for all of its schools in the system that are working at full capacity.  I'm not choosing to ignore reality, but I don't think that your initial comment that international applicants actually give school money is an approrpriate assessment for many PhD in biology graduate programs, at least at the more well-funded schools.

I'd expect rejected and haven't told you.

Nice! Another Duke attendee   

Same thing from me.
 
I came to genetics/systems biology from chemistry via molecular biology. I am interested in any systems biology work that also has some evolutionary implications. Not sure where I will end up on the theoretical/modeling vs experimental spectrum.
(As an international student, all interviews were on skype)
 
 
Undergrad Institution: Indian university, quite famous but not for biology.
Major(s): Chemistry
Minor(s): Biosciences
Overall GPA: 8.61/10.0
Position in Class: Top 15%
Type of Student: International male

GRE Scores (revised version):
Q: 170
V: 170
W: 4.0
Chemistry Subject: 860 (90%)
 
TOEFL: 115/120
 
Research Experience: 
3.5 years -- computational chemistry/molecular modeling (docking, virtual screening, molecular dynamics, etc.) 2nd author paper, 2 posters.
0.5 years -- wet-lab biology work (transfection, etc.)
1 summer at a US private university -- computational chemistry
 
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Institute Academic Prize (twice), a couple of standard scholarships.
 
Random: TA for freshman biology course
My program was an undergraduate program where I would finish in 5 years with a masters degree (no idea if this made any difference)
 
--Results --
 
Rejected outright :
UCSF TETRAD                                                                                                                                                                   (23rd Feb)
MIT Biology                                                                                                                                                                        (15th Jan)
U Wisconsin Madison Genetics                                                                                                                                           (7th April)
U Chicago Mol Biosciences (GGSB)                                                                                                                                  (13th Feb)
Harvard MCO                                                                                                                                                                   (6th March) 
Columbia Biological Sciences                                                                                                                                         (23rd March)
 
Interviews:
Duke Genetics and Genomics                                                                                                  (Invite:12th Dec, interview: 18th Dec)
UNC Chapel Hill                                                                                                                   (Invite: 14th Jan, interview: 10th March)
Cornell BMCB                                                                                                            (Invite: 25th Jan, interviews in Feb and March) Stony Brook Genetics                                                                                                              (Invite: 12th Feb, interviews in March)
USC - Molecular and Computational Biology                                                                           (Invite: 12th Feb, interview: 17th Feb)
NYU Biology (Genomics and systems biology)                                                                        (Invite: 18th Feb, interview 23rd Feb)
 
Acceptances:
Duke Genetics and Genomics                                                                                                                                           (26th Feb)
Cornell BMCB                                                                                                       (Status changed on website, no email notification)
Stony Brook Genetics                                                                                                                                                     (11th March)
  Wait Listed:
UNC Chapel Hill (no idea what happened eventually, I'm assuming I was rejected)
 
Attending:
Duke University: Mainly because of the sheer variety of professors doing stuff I'm interested in. The research fit was great and I heard nice things about the program and the labs I was interested in.
Stony Brook I felt I had a great research fit with 2 professors but not much beyond that, but it became a really hard choice by the end.
I ended up applying to the wrong field in Cornell (BMCB not GGDv) but anyway on email it didn't look like it would work out with the labs I was interested in working for in either program.
 
Random tips:
I made a pretty conventional reach/backup type list but as an international student that goes quite haywire. Most of the U California schools are very very selective for internationals, and there are even variations within the same university for different programs (Wisconsin Genetics vs Wisconsin Chemistry, as far as I know)
As a general rule, private is easier for international applicants.
 
(For skype interviews): not too hard at all and can be quite fun if they're one-on-one with a professor you're interested in. It majorly helps to be well-prepared and sure about your own research, and to have a few intelligent questions to ask them.
 
On the lab homepage of a Chicago professor, I saw that the program advises us to contact labs before the application process starts, and that without a faculty member 'sponsoring' you, admission in unlikely. I saw this in mid-Jan, long after the information was useful.
http://pondside.uchicago.edu/~feder/trainees.htm
I guess that it would be a prudent thing to do generally, not much harm can come from it and you might get a potential sponsor for your application. The worse that can happen (in general) is that the prof will tell you s/he isn't taking students next year but that would probably be the case regardless of whether you contact him/her or not.
 
 
Rants:
I was unofficially told by someone in Wisconsin that they were done reviewing applications by the end of Jan, but my official reject came only on 7th April. Similar thing from Chicago but a much smaller gap. 
Harvard is super-inaccessible while MIT replied quickly. 
USC has not got back to me (or, judging by the results page, anyone else) after the interview. No idea what happened there.
NYU I had a 10 minute skype talk with some professor from the committee where I felt I had answered all his questions decently, the talk ended abruptly and one week later I was rejected with no explanations given. Again, no idea what happened there.

I am re-posting for future applicants. Good luck
~
Undergrad Institution: State School (Ranked ~150 in US News and World Report).
Majors: Biology, Psychology (Will graduate in May).
GPA in Major: Biology 3.94, Psychology 4.0.
Overall GPA: 3.85.
Position in Class: Top ~2%.
Type of Student: Domestic, female, hispanic.

GRE Scores (revised version):
Q: 155 (~60%).
V: 157 (~70%).
W: 4.5 (~80%).

Research Experience:
~3.5 years, 3 different labs. No pubs. 12 poster presentations/talks. #asked for a letter of rec. from each research advisor
- Virology research at my home institution. ~1.5 years. ~20 hrs/week
- Neuroscience research at top 10 institution. ~ 1 year. ~40 hrs/week
- RNA biology research at research institute. ~ 1 year. ~30 hrs/week.
 
Awards/Honors/Recognitions:
2 presentation awards.
13 scholarships.
5 honor societies.
3 research internships.
 
Pertinent Activities or Jobs:
TA'd for 1 semester in psychology.
Tutored informally throughout college.
#I don't really think this matters for the type of programs I applied to.

Special Bonus Points:
1 fairly well-known recommender.
Very broad research interests, but basic research for sure and fairly interested in chromatin/RNA/gene expression regulation.

Applied:
1. UT Southwestern - Genetics and Development Track (Submitted: Nov. 12)
2. NYU - Sackler: Genome Integrity (Submitted: Nov. 14)
3. UCLA - Biosciences: Gene Regulation Home Area (Submitted: Nov. 16)
4. Harvard - BBS (Submitted: Nov. 17)
5. Rockefeller (Submitted: Nov. 21)
6. UC Berkeley - MCB (Submitted: Nov. 23)
7. UCSF - Tetrad (Submitted: Nov. 24)
8. Stanford Biosciences - Biology Track (Submitted: Nov. 26)
9. MIT - Biology (Submitted: Nov. 27)
10. Harvard - MCO (Submitted: Nov. 28)
11. UCSD - Biological Sciences with Salk (Submitted: Nov. 28)
12. UCI - CMB (Submitted: Nov. 29)
13. MIT - BCS (Submitted: Nov. 30)
 
~
Interview Invites:
1. UT Southwestern - Genetics and Development Track (Invited: Dec. 4)
2. UCLA - Biosciences: Gene Regulation Home Area (Invited: Dec. 6)
3. UCSF - Tetrad (Invited: Dec. 17)
4. Harvard - MCO (Invited: Dec. 19)
5. UCI - CMB (Invited: Dec. 19)
6. Harvard - BBS (Invited: Dec. 19)
7. UC Berkeley - MCB (Invited: Dec. 19)
8. MIT - BCS (Invited: Dec. 23)
9. NYU - Sackler: Genome Integrity (Invited: Dec. 24)
10. MIT - Biology (Invited: Jan. 9)
11. Stanford Biosciences - Biology Track (Invited: Jan. 9)
12. Rockefeller (Invited: Jan. 14)

Interviewed:
1. NYU - Sackler: Genome Integrity (Weekend: Jan 22-23)
2. UCSF - Tetrad (Weekend: Jan 29-31)
3. UC Berkeley - MCB (Weekend: Feb 1-3)
4. Harvard - MCO (Weekend: Feb 4-7)
5. MIT - Biology (Weekend: Feb 7-10)
6. Harvard - BBS (Weekend: Feb 12-15)
7. MIT - BCS (Weekend: Feb 26-27)
8. Rockefeller (Weekend: Mar 1-2) #not an official interview weekend, but they were really nice about working around my schedule
9. Stanford Biosciences - Biology Track (Weekend: Mar 4-7)
10. UT Southwestern - Genetics and Development Track (Weekend: Mar 12-14)

Accepted:
1. UCSF - Tetrad (Notified: Feb. 4)
2. UC Berkeley - MCB (Notified: Feb. 5)
3. NYU - Sackler: Genome Integrity (Notified: Feb. 6)
4. MIT - Biology (Notified: Feb. 12)
5. Harvard - MCO (Notified: Feb. 18)
6. Harvard - BBS (Notified: Feb. 24)
7. Rockefeller (Notified: Mar. 3)
8. MIT - BCS (Notified: Mar. 6)
9. Stanford Biosciences - Biology Track (Notified: Mar. 13)
10. UT Southwestern - Genetics and Development Track (Notified: Mar. 16)
 
Rejected:
1. UCSD - Biological Sciences with Salk (No Interview) #In retrospect, I think I should have applied to BMS, it's a larger program and they invite more people to interview, but oh well.
 
Attending:
MIT Biology. #I mentioned it in a previous post, but basically just everything I was looking for.
Reasons for attending: Students look happy, legitimately happy. Incoming class of ~30, just the right size (IMO). The faculty seem very supportive of students (>90% of students graduate, also you can defer if something comes up). Quality research. Excellent training. No rotations first semester, just classes. Nobel laureate teaches graduate level genetics (yup!). Short rotations (1 month). Funding guaranteed for as long as it takes for you to graduate. 35K stipend + health insurance + waived tuition. Boston is a great place to live.

Additional Info/ Tips:
- I did not contact any faculty beforehand. I think this is encouraged at Stanford (they ask you if you did as part of the application), but I don't think it's necessary elsewhere.
- It's good to check if programs received all application materials (I called the admissions office, and also tried to submit at least a few days before app deadline).
- Ask your recommenders at least 1 month in advance (that's polite and also great because your application will be complete as soon as you click the submit button).
- There are application fee-waivers available (if you don't have the money to apply, ask if you can get one before you give up).
- UT Southwestern does not charge you to apply (and also great program, I was very impressed).
- Apparently Texas has special Texas funding for science. This is good for internationals, and that's why Baylor and UT Southwestern can accept ~30% internationals.
- Don't be nervous, interviews are a lot of fun!
- Oh, and had I not gone to MIT Biology, I would have probably chosen Harvard MCO, Berkeley, Rockefeller, Stanford, and UT Southwestern in that order. Those were my favorites, in case you were wondering.

I hope my application profile might help future applicants! Good luck!
 
Undergrad Institution: Top 50 Private Research University
Major(s): Biology B.A.
Minor(s): Psychology, Political Science
GPA in Major (undergrad): 3.10 / 4.0
GPA in Graduate level courses: 3.85 / 4.0 (took a few grad level courses as an unmatriculated student)
Overall GPA: 3.48/4.0
Position in Class: Somewhere in the middle
Type of Student: Domestic

GRE Scores (revised version):
Q: 155
V: 166
W: 4.5
Research Experience: DAAD-RISE summer fellowship , one semester undergrad, 3 years post-grad.
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: DAAD-RISE Fellowship, Merit Scholarships
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: 3 years working as a lab tech after graduation
 
--Results --
 
Rejections :
Yale
Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
Weill Cornell
Duke University
UNC
Boston University
 
Interviews:
NYU Sackler (wait listed)
U Mass Medical School
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Northwestern Driskill Graduate Program
UNC Charlotte (declined)
 
Acceptances:
U Mass Medical School
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Northwestern Driskill Graduate Program
 
Advice:
- I would definitely recommend working as a lab tech after undergrad. I approached my work as though I were already a graduate student, and I benefited tremendously from the effort.
- Develop a method for reading journal articles. Just reading the abstract is not enough!
 
- Go to as many research seminars as possible, especially if you're unfamiliar with the topic. Don't worry about feeling out of place, faculty and students will be glad you're interested. Knowing what kind of questions interest researchers in various fields helped me in making conversation during grad school interviews, and it will help your research!
- Don't waste too much time on the GRE. I recommend using Magoosh to prepare.

As I see it, you have two options. Do what Ted Binksy said, or try to find a lab tech job. But since you talked about the difficulty you've had with that, the Masters may be a better option.

I figured I'd also chime in on my background for future applicants following @ballwera's example since I found this thread a bit late in the application season. I learned quite a lot from this tread and hope for future applicants to do the same. 
 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
Undergrad Institution: Top 5 Private Engineering School
Major(s): Chemical Engineering, Chemistry 
Minor(s): Statistics, Biology 
GPA in Major: 3.82/4.00
Overall GPA: 3.68/4.00
Position in Class: No Idea, somewhere in the top 50 most likely
Type of Student: Immigrant (domestic applicant though), Underrepresented, Male  
 
Master's Institution: Top 5 Private Engineering School (same school)
Major(s): Analytical Chemistry 
Minor(s): N/A 
GPA in Major: 4.00/4.00
Overall GPA: 4.00/4.00
Position in Class: Top 3  
 
GRE Scores (revised/old version):
Q: 165/170
V: 167/170
W: 4.5/6.0

Research Experience: 4.5 years total working on various projects spanning from electrochemistry, process/control engineering, and inorganic biochemistry. Also spent 4 months working as an ChE intern in industry

Awards/Honors/Recognition: Dean’s List, ChE Honor Society, Bio Honor Society

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: President of AIChE chapter, Community Outreach & tutoring for underprivileged students

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Presented work at 2 conferences

Special Bonus Points: Letter of Rec. from a mentor who is a director at a fortune 500 pharmaceutical company and did his PhD and postdoc at 2 of the institutes I applied to.
 
Applied to:
UNC-Chapel Hill, Eshelmann School of Pharmacy, Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics
Duke University, School of Medicine, Pharmacology & Cancer Biology
Baylor College of Medicine, Integrative Molecular Biomedical Sciences
Case Western Reserve University, School of Medicine, Molecular Therapeutics Training Program
Purdue University, School of Pharmacy, Medicinal Chemistry & Molecular Pharmacology
Indiana University, School of Medicine, BioMedical Gateway Program
Ohio State University, School of Medicine, Integrated Biomedical Sciences
 
--Results --
 
Rejections :
UNC-Chapel Hill, Eshelmann School of Pharmacy, Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics
 
Interviews:
Purdue University, School of Pharmacy, Medicinal Chemistry & Molecular Pharmacology
UNC-Chapel Hill, Eshelmann School of Pharmacy, Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics
Ohio State University, School of Medicine, Integrated Biomedical Sciences
Indiana University, School of Medicine, BioMedical Gateway Program
Duke University, School of Medicine, Pharmacology & Cancer Biology
Baylor College of Medicine, Integrative Molecular Biomedical Sciences
Case Western Reserve University, School of Medicine, Molecular Therapeutics Training Program
  Acceptances:
Purdue University, School of Pharmacy, Medicinal Chemistry & Molecular Pharmacology
Ohio State University, School of Medicine, Integrated Biomedical Sciences
Duke University, School of Medicine, Pharmacology & Cancer Biology  <---- Attending
Baylor College of Medicine, Integrative Molecular Biomedical Sciences
Case Western Reserve University, School of Medicine, Molecular Therapeutics Training Program
Indiana University, School of Medicine, BioMedical Gateway Program
 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
Hopefully this helps with any applicants who aren't coming from traditional bio-backgrounds going to bio heavy grad programs 

Following suit, because I wish I had this sort of information going in to the process.
 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
Undergrad Institution: State school
Major(s): Molecular biology
Minor(s): Pure mathematics (abandoned 2nd major -- 6 credits short of major)
GPA in Major: 3.88
Overall GPA: 3.85/4.00
Position in Class: Top 5% (the university provided this info, but a lot of schools don't)
Type of Student: Domestic female 
 
GRE Scores (revised/old version):
Q: 168, 95th %ile
V: 164, 93rd %ile
W: 6.0, 99th %ile

Research Experience: When I applied I had 1 year of experience, in one lab, and I was working 30-40 hours/week. I had a first-author pub at the time of application. The lab I'm in is not neuroscience-related and the only neuro background I had was a course in neurobiology (using Kandel's Principles of Neural Science). 
Awards/Honors/Recognition: 2 state-specific research fellowships and 1 outside grant (Sigma Xi GIAR). Nominated graduation speaker, nominated "top 10 scholar" for the graduating year of 2014. Various scholarships throughout my earlier years.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Until I started research, I worked part-time as a pharmacy tech in a hospital for 3.5 years. I compounded oral and IV drugs. I had to earn continuing education (CE) credits to maintain certification. I don't know if this actually counts for anything but I'm permanently crazy about aseptic technique now.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: I'm an adjunct lecturer in the math dept at my undergrad institution and I had one semester of teaching "freshman algebra" at the time of application. Also TA'ed for 2nd semester organic chemistry, calc III (for 3 semesters), and calc II throughout my undergrad years.

Special Bonus Points: I finished all of my applications before November. This shouldn't technically matter unless a school has rolling admissions, but I was told by students at my first interview (Vanderbilt) that it "matters a lot", because applications are generally reviewed in some semblance of the order in which they were received.
 
Applied to: (all neuroscience)
University of Utah
University of Colorado AMC
Vanderbilt NGP
University of Pittsburgh CNUP
Brandeis University
Oregon Health & Science University
University of Washington
University of Iowa
 
--Results --
 
Rejections :
None
 
Interviews:
All, but I declined invites to interview at UW, Brandeis, and Iowa. I was invited to interview at UW's pharmacology program a couple weeks after I declined the neuro invite.   Acceptances:
Colorado, Vanderbilt, Utah, Pittsburgh, OHSU.
 
Other things I want to say to future applicants:
-OHSU has a reputation on gradcafe for only accepting people with "1 year of post-bacc research experience" (see the results search for examples of this). Their rejection letters do routinely claim this line, but some of the students I met (as well as myself) were accepted without a full year of post-bacc research. Don't let it stop you from applying if you're interested.
-Interviews aren't scary! Please don't be as anxious as I was. It's so much fun to meet people in the same boat.
-All of the GRE essay topics are on the GRE website (the issue & argument pools). There are hundreds of them, but there are common themes you can be prepared for.
-At one of my interviews, we were told that we were selected to interview because our SOPs described a time that we overcame a setback in the lab.

Well comrades, it's over. Or maybe I should say it's just beginning...
I've accepted an offer - Biological Physics, Structure, and Design at the University of Washington in Seattle !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

They rejected me (without interview) two years ago - but I'm back, baby. 

Have. Never. Been. More. Excited. About. Anything. In. My. Life. 

 

I finally made my choice! Thanks to everyone in this forum for sharing your experiences and advice. 
 
You have some great options Wolfpack! I talked to a bunch of students and faculty at the Universities I was seriously considering... Most important for me was faculty of interest and their availability. I also heavily considered the lifestyle of the grad students (how stressed they seemed, did they seem to hang out outside of classes, what type of living arrangements were they able to afford), graduate student placement (I want to go into academia, so the number of students that went onto good postdocs was important to me), and funding. I think in the end, it really comes down to a gut feeling. I was lucky enough to be awarded the NSF which gave me a lot of freedom in terms of funding, but I still decided to go with the school I was leaning towards before I found out.

Have you looked at where graduates of each program go when they leave the university?

I am a little disappointed, but the expectations are pretty high. I'm trying again next year and can hopefully build from their feedback

Getting two interviews is a good sign, so I'd say probably send out more applications next year as it is somewhat of a numbers game. I don't really know how focused you were, but the program is going to want to know that there are faculty who are searching for a graduate student that you want to work with. So, let's say you want to work on how toxic compounds travel through the brain, but the two faculty members who do that have had bad luck with grants, you're not likely to get accepted. Whereas, if you are interested in ion channel regulation and they have six faculty who do that and are graduating two students from those labs you're probably desirable.

As someone who just completed the Organic Chemistry sequence and had a rough time at the beginning, I cannot even begin to stress how important it is to master the material in Orgo I and retake it before proceeding to Orgo II - while I got the same grade in both courses, Orgo II was far more difficult and would have been impossible to pass had I not established a proper foundation the previous semester.  I understand that you say that you have knowledge of the material, but if I were an adcom member, I would want to see proof of that via the retaking of the class. It can also only boost your GPA if you pass this time around!

Regardless of how helpful we have been, we are taking time to try and offer our advice, and I think people are more inclined to help when the person responds neutrally, if not positively - I don't think that trying to excuse the tenseness of your responses by stating that you have a stubborn personality is contributing positively to this discussion and encouraging people to respond.

I'm going to chime in here and say that if you can raise your uGPA significantly or do a master's program and do extremely well, I think you could have a much better shot - I've talked to and heard of people with 2.9s or 2.8s (uGPA) getting in after having gotten a 3.7+ GPA in a master's program, so I really think that is the Achilles heel. If possible, I think it would not be a bad idea to talk to some sort of academic advisor/career counselor who understands graduate admissions, and gives you advice on how to best address it. It's just the luck of the draw that neuroscience is (for whatever reason) even worse/more competitive than regular graduate admissions!

Congrats, pastel! (This limit on up votes is really annoying me > )

I had one professor tell me he didn't want to read my personal statement before he met me so that he could get the direct impression of my research from me. Which is funny, because he is one of the professors that I mentioned in my personal statement as one of my top POI's at the school.

I was offered a very generous fellowship offer from my second choice school. When I asked my lab mates and advisers about asking for more money from my top choice school, I was warned to be very careful in how I did so. My former PI is on the admissions committee at Cornell and he said that they would be somewhat offended if someone flat out said they wanted more money. He said a better way to do it (and only do this if you would commit to that school!) is to say that this school is my top choice due to the variety of research availability, collaborative community etc etc, but due to the high cost of the area I am worried financially about making a commitment. You can then ask if there are fellowships that the school offers you can apply to... such as this fellowship that I was fortunate enough to be awarded at this school. Research communities are very small so you should be pretty careful in how you approach this. Of course, I have heard of people asking for more money so it does happen and maybe some schools don't care or expect it. Good luck!

The fall is incredibly nice in Ithaca, but, yes the winters can be dark and gloomy... part of the reason Cornell has one of the longest winter breaks in the country (although not sure if this applies to grad school). I know a couple people who got happy lamps when they were there to get more vitamin D, but I always loved the winters there. There are some beautiful hikes in the winter and you can sled and go ice climbing. I never had a problem with the winters, but it can be chilly to walk to class so make sure you have some good boots and a warm coat!

Acetylcholine,
 
a lot of the "stats" for these programs are truly trivial. you have a high enough GPA and test scores to be considered at just about any school. there's a lot of chest puffing about the GRE and grades around here that is really meaningless and is zero indicator of a good graduate candidate. 
 
your research interest being "niche" can only be a problem if your essays make you come across as having a very narrow focus on what you want to do. programs are expecting your interests (and potentially even your field) to change. it could be that your writing is too technical/focused on your project and not enough on the broader implications of your work or the work you want to do. i doubt this is the case since you got interviews, but just a thought.
 
also, having your name on a publication is great and all...but it really is meaningless if you can't convey the significance of the work in written or spoken form. not saying this is the case with you, but just as a word of caution to not assume that a publication = acceptance. 
 
you are getting invited to interviews, so you're passing the "beauty pageant" portion of the application. it's gotta be something in your interviews. are you employed as a tech now? or still in school?

I have a similar question. I have narrowed my decision down to two options:
 
School A:
Top 10 At least 4 professors I could see myself working with 31k a year... BUT in a very expensive city (LA) Definitely a more stressful environment... I felt like most of the students I met seemed pretty stressed School B:
Top 20-30 Only really 2 professors I am excited about Awarded additional fellowship on top of stipend: 40k a year in a very reasonable city students seemed very happy Everything makes School B such an easy choice but I really really like the research at A so I am pretty torn
 
If I am sure that I would commit to School A if they offered me more money, would it be appropriate to tell them my other offer? 31k is definitely livable, it would just be tight in comparison to 40k. I don't want to phrase it in a way that would take away the option of attending A if they don't match the other offer.