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I met Neil Patrick Harris a few months ago in Boston. That was pretty awesome.

Are there specific areas in Davis you recommend (or DON'T recommend) living in? I'll be attending this fall.

Can't speak to how important prestige is (I'm in a different field). But to answer this question: I go to school in the Boston area and have lived in MA my entire life. These would be ranked Merrimack < UMass Boston < BU.

I'll be attending this Fall for Biopsych. Thanks for your advice on housing, GeoDude!. I'm currently going through the process of looking for housing now, and I've heard by a ton of people that it's incredibly competitive. Are there any services for finding roommates?

I'll be attending UC Davis for Biological Psychology

I would say it depends. I've taken some graduate courses (in programming and bioinformatics) and they've come up in interviews, but only because I'm applying for biopsych/neuro programs, and many of my potential advisors have some aspect of bioinformatics/comp bio that they're considering applying to their projects. I don't know if this helped me get interviews, or anything like that, but it was a talking point.

I also recommend giving it a few days. I had an interview conflict and asked for another date. Sent two emails within two and a half weeks. It wasn't until a full month after the intial invitation that I got an email saying they had a draft email they'd never sent I ended up getting the interview rescheduled, so, give it time!

These are things I think would be ok to ask a program coordinator! Fair questions. I can say that when I interviewed at UC Davis the program I applied for said their award letter would state guaranteed funding for either 4 or 5 years (I can't remember which), but that they've never had issues funding people for at least six years (this is because in this program you can technically TA for six years and be funded based on just that, worst come to worst.). They also said that people can get awarded fellowships, GSRs, etc. To answer your other question: they also said that during your first year you need to be prepping to get CA residency (get a CA drivers license, etc) and after a year, you should be able to get CA residency, and that should get you in-state tuition.

This might be helpful. I scored under 50% (Q), over 70% (V) and over 90% (A). I was sortof informally accepted into my top choice program. By that I mean, I met my POI the day before I interviewed and he told me that he is hoping I will join his lab in the fall. I should also mention that in this particular program I was interviewing specifically for a position in this POI's lab, and although he was interviewing another student, he told me via email we were not competing. I am assuming my good grades in stats and programming courses helped me out! With that being said, I haven't been told I'm actually admitted yet, so who knows. Regardless of my GRE scores I felt pretty good about my applications. Some programs have told me that it is just a formality, while others have told me they are used as cut-offs. I guess it really depends. Does anyone know if GRE scores are used as cut-offs post-interview?

I wouldn't assume that it automatically means you're denied. You could email a program administrator (or a POI you've been in contact with) to ask for an update.

One of the people who I met during an interview weekend was asked about diversity. His response was something like "I've had to deal with diversity a lot in my life, so I'm used to it". Oof. As for me, I was asked how my parents feel about my applying to graduate school. For some reason I wasn't expecting this question... and so I said something like well, they're excited I guess, but neither of them went this far in school so they don't really get it. Nice one.

As a potential student currently in the application process, I would rate these as: 1) Research interest (It was super important to me that I find POI(s) working on something I found interesting. I would be doing this for the next 5-6 years of my life. 2) Cost of living (I live in Boston right now as an undergrad and boy is it hard. I just want to make sure the stipend is sufficient to live wherever I end up). 3) Weather. (I'm sure you've heard of the snowpocalypse in Boston right now. Yeah. Over it). 4) School Program Ranking. (Who doesn't want to go to a well-ranked program? IMO that usually means better facilities). 5) Professor status. (As in how often they/their students are publishing, overall success rate. Not so much how famous they may be). The last three (school overall ranking, having worked with (AND LOVING) your advisor prior to application, and distance from home) were not of any concern to me. The ranking of the program itself was more important to me than the ranking of the university as a whole. I've never worked with any of the POIs I've applied to do my PhD under, although I have spoken to and even met some of them (at conferences and interviews). And for the last one, like I said I'm kindof ready to leave Boston, but it's not a big deal if I end up staying, so not really a concern. I don't have any reason to try and stay close to home (and I'm ready for nice weather!)

Another thing I forgot to mention is that there is probably a FAQ on your programs website that states whether or not they have interviews. It might give an interview date as well.

This will probably be unhelpful, but I think it really depends on the school (and the program). Not every program does it the same way, and the admissions process can even differ between different programs within the same school (I believe). For example, from some of the schools I applied to I received an email/phone call directly from a POI inviting me to interview. From others I received a generic email from a department head, program coordinator, etc. That being said -- I wouldn't fret just yet! Sometimes interviews aren't the norm. If that's the case, you wouldn't need an interview to be admitted. When they are the norm, they're sometimes sent out in waves, so it's possible you just weren't part of that first wave of invites sent out. Like I said, it really varies. One of the programs I applied to even had rolling admissions. It you're super concerned, you could email a graduate program coordinator and ask about the status of your application (or just where the program is in the admissions process). I think there is a separate thread on that though.

Not sure if anyone has replied to you, UIC Neuro had an interview weekend Jan 29. I was unable to attend and asked to reschedule, but haven't heard back... Hope it works out for you!!

If your cycle doesn't end up working out this year (here's hoping it does!!! :) ) you might consider applying to UC Davis neuroscience or animal behaviour program. There is a PI there (Danielle Stolzenberg) who is working with behavioral epigenetics and maternal behavior (I know this because I interviewed there last weekend and met her). All the best!

Hi all! Thanks so much in advance for reading this post. I am a rising undergraduate senior, and am planning to apply this fall for PhD programs in neuroscience. I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions in terms of programs/schools I should realisticly be applying to. My major concern is my relatively low GPA. Rank of the school/"name" is not very important to me. I am more concerned with making sure my research interests are matched with some of the faculty, but first I have to find schools! Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks so much. Here are my stats. School: Public, mid-sized research university. Major: Biology Minor: Cognitive Science GPA: 3.2. GRE: Not yet taken, but I'm in a prep course and feel relatively confident. Research experience: I've been in a cognitive neuroscience lab (~1 year, will be about ~2 years at the end of my senior year) and am currently doing an honors project in a more pharmacology based lab on stress and drug addiction. Presentations/Publications: I've presented at three conferences, one of them a national biomedical conference. Am currently involved with a publication that is in the works, but I don't think it will be published before I apply. SOI: In the midst of writing it, but I have multiple professors and PIs editing it. LOR: All three from research mentors/PIs I know personally and have worked with for some time. Other: I have quite a bit of programming experience, i.e. C++. I'm also going to be taking a graduate course in MATLAB this upcoming year. Not sure how relevant that is to an application.