disasterprone

The entire application experience summed up in two words!

I have started not caring about my undergrad courses more than ever before and I feel really bad about it. I didn't believe in senioritis, but now...

Hey all, Even though I posted earlier in this thread (but totally don't remember actually doing it), I started a thread in the Engineering subforum (where the 2014 BioE/BME PhD thread was from last year). Here's the link (). If you all want to come and join us over there, it'd be great to consolidate since I see a lot of good advice/discussion here as well. It looks like some of you have done so already, so that's great!

Yep, the program definitely interviews. I asked again and apparently he got NSF and then let the program know. At that point, the program decided to accept him on the spot. Of course, this is way uncommon (but apparently not unheard of) and more of an exception than the rule. Just a point that it's not over until its over (and it's still early in the season). This story is fresh in my mind because I was asking him what to wear for my interviews on the west coast vs east and he was like "I have no idea...I never even officially interviewed here" haha

I can't say for sure (probably nobody trawling though this site can), but I wouldn't put too much worry into it. It's still pretty early on in the season. A grad student in my lab didn't hear anything from our current institution until early April after he got NSF. No formal interview, no rejection. Just was accepted super late.

Congrats! Pretty sure for most places, they can bring you out at a different time that works better for you. Granted, you might not get the whole interview/recruitment experience with everybody else, but you can probably still meet with faculty that interest you.

Just heard back from UW! Interview weekend scheduled for mid/late March (20-22).

Pretty sure there are waves for at least some institutions. At Duke, they told us that the January interview was the first of three waves. I wouldn't email to follow up though...I've been told that it can't really do anything for you plus it's totally annoying for the program coordinators/assistants. An exception would be if you just had something major change in your application materials (for example, a submitted paper was accepted or you received one of the fellowships you applied for). In that case, I'd probably send a quick email to the department letting them know...but not in a nagging way. As a side note on the fellowships, at least some (if not all) post the recipients in a public listing. Sometimes institutions scan that list and if your name is on it, they'll know without you bringing it up. In addition to that sometimes being the difference between acceptance/rejection or getting of the waitlist in the first few weeks of April, I've even heard stories of people getting NSF and then receiving random acceptance letters from programs they didn't even apply to!

No problem! I don't think those acceptance rates are extraordinarily high though. From what I understood, the emphasis was that ~75% at Stanford was low compared to other institutions. I haven't heard anything, but I'd imagine Hopkins is going to be anywhere between like 75-90%.

Thanks for joining us! Apparently, as heard from a current BioE grad student at Stanford, the post-interview acceptance rate was ~75%. Compare that to other programs such as Berkeley/UCSF with a >90% acceptance rate for interviewees.

Hey mc738, I had dates (Feb 19-20 and March 5-6) in my email from Hopkins. I'm at Northwestern on Feb 19-20, so I'll be at the March 5-6 visit. It might be due to geographical location? I'm from the West Coast, so they might need to arrange the dates first and then do closer visitors?

As far as Stanford goes, I've heard from current Stanford BioE grad students that only about 75% of interviewees are offered admission. Compared to >90% at Berkeley/UCSF. They don't make it easy on us!

Yeah, I called and spoke to one of the program coordinators at Stanford and she said that they were still having discussions with Berkeley/UCSF to figure out the best plan. Apparently, in years past, Berkeley/UCSF has been the week after Stanford so it wasn't as much of an issue. I think they'll just update us whenever they figure something out. If all else fails, I just plan to crash at a friend's house in the bay.

Undergrad Institution: Large State School (West Coast) Major(s): Bioengineering Minor(s): N/A GPA in Major: 3.68/4.00 Overall GPA: 3.73/4.00 Demographics/Background: White Male GRE Scores: Q: 168 (95%) V: 166 (96%) W: 5.5 (98%) LOR: Current PI (going on three years) Collaborating PI (known for two+ years) Faculty director of summer research program Research Experience: Three years in tissue-based bioengineering lab (4 distinct projects related to tissue and stem cell work) One year in biomaterials-based bioengineering lab for senior design Publications/Abstracts/Presentations: One 2nd author paper currently in revised submission, one 3rd author paper currently in final preparation, and one 1st author paper in progress Seven conference abstracts ranging from 1st to 3rd author Four undergraduate research presentations Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Amgen Scholar Award for Best Scientific Paper at recent national conference Dean's List (x7) Membership nomination to Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honors Society Fellowships/Funding: Applied for NSF GRFP Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Founding an undergraduate, interdisciplinary research journal for students at undergrad institution ​Charter member of a committee to oversee funding of student travel for conferences/competitions Charter member of a First-Year Experience course for freshman navigating a large research university Other Miscellaneous Accomplishments: ? Research Interests: Tissue Engineering, Regenerative Medicine, Stem Cell differentiation, Institutions/Programs: UC San Diego (BioE): UC Berkeley/UCSF (BioE): Received interview invite on 1/22. Interview scheduled for 2/23-2/24. Stanford (BioE): Received interview invite on 1/21. Interview scheduled for 2/26-2/27. U Washington (BioE): Northwestern (BME): Received interview invite on 1/20. Interview scheduled for 2/19-2/20. MIT (BiolE): Johns Hopkins (BME): Received interview invite on 1/26. Interview scheduled for 3/5-3/6. ​Duke (BME): Received interview invite on 1/13. Attended interview on 1/23. Comments: Is anybody else in the position of interviewing at both Berkeley/SF and Stanford in the same week? And perhaps Northwestern a few days before? A few days in between visits would be nice! I hope that all the travel arrangements will work out alright. I feel like MIT already sent out all their interview invites and that UW and UCSD are simply taking their sweet time...

Although applications are most likely in for everyone already, perhaps we should have a separate thread for this year's applicants instead of continuing on last year's thread? We could discuss interviews/visits, acceptances, and funding offers relevant to this year's cycle. If we'd rather stick with that one, disregard this post. If not (and we want to post stats/profiles) let's use the following formatting to keep everything streamlined. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Undergrad Institution: Major(s): Minor(s): GPA in Major: x.xx/4.00 Overall GPA: x.xx/4.00 Demographics/Background: GRE Scores: Q: xxx (xx%) V: xxx (xx%) W: x.x (xx%) LOR: Research Experience: Publications/Abstracts/Presentations: Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Fellowships/Funding: Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Other Miscellaneous Accomplishments: Research Interests: Institutions/Programs: Comments: