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AtomDance

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    2016 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

    in Biology

    Posted

    16 hours ago, pm666 said:

    Thanks for your reply..:) I got my application in on Nov 22nd.  The administrator just told me that reviews are still not complete for IMBS and the final review day is January 29th. So I am trying to stay positive. In the application status check, IMBS is still the active program. Keeping fingers crossed. 

    Good luck!!! :)

    Red Flags To Look For at Your Interviews

    in Interviews and Visits

    Posted

    I came across this article on assessing the culture of a potential research group that you might find useful. 

    https://tenureshewrote.wordpress.com/2015/02/16/prospective-students-and-lab-culture/

    In particular, I think that asking current members whether they're happy in the group/program/etc. or not can be really revealing. I ended up not applying to one program after I asked this of a recent graduate who had to take a deep breath before replying with an unenthusiastic, "yeah...it's a really great program". :huh:

    2016 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

    in Biology

    Posted

    25 minutes ago, pm666 said:

    So UNC said people will be hearing till 2-3 rd week of January. Duke said if I don't hear back this week, its probably a rejection.I have not heard back from any other schools, so beginning to lose hope.:(

    Looks like you also heard from BCM. I applied there as well, top choice for IMBS and second choice human genetics.Did you get an email or phone call from them?

    I just got the rejection from Harvard BBS, not too surprised but at least it is out of the way now. Great start to a Monday I guess..HAHA

    I did get an email from BCM last week from Molecular & Human Genetics (IMBS was my 2nd choice program, incidentally). I wouldn't lose hope on BCM just yet...  I had my application in by the priority deadline (December 1st) instead of waiting for the final January 1st deadline, which may be why I heard from the relatively early? And IMBS may have a later review schedule than M&HG anyway. Have you checked the BCM application portal? They tell you if your application is currently active in your 1st or 2nd choice program. If yours still says IMBS as your "active" program, they're probably still working on it!

    2016 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

    in Biology

    Posted

    4 hours ago, pm666 said:

    Hi guys, 

    anyone know if all UCSD BMS interviews are sent out? Really appreciate your help.. Any idea about Duke UPGG and UNC chapel hill BBSP??

    happy weekend folks !!

     

    I received an invite from Duke UPGG and at least one other person in this thread received one before me. I don't know at all whether they sent them all out early or if they're still sending invites out though! The weekends are February 4-6 or February 18-20 for UPGG. 

    I applied to UNC BBSP too and haven't heard anything from them either. I think the general consensus is that they might send out more invites in January? Not really sure.

    I'm super excited to have gotten as many interview invites as I have, and I'm kind of okay with not having heard back from the more competitive programs I applied to at this point. This time last year I was worried I wouldn't get any interview invites, so I'm feeling pretty optimistic right now! 

    Hope everyone here has a happy and safe holiday (and try not to stress too much :P)!   

    2016 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

    in Biology

    Posted · Edited by AtomDance
    missed a word

    Thought I'd share this really great resource for preparing for interviews made by the NIH's Office of Intramural Training and Education. I'm 99.9% sure it is accessible outside the NIH campus and that the link below works, but if not, please let me know!

    Video (1 hour 44 minutes): http://videocast.nih.gov/summary.asp?Live=9809&bhcp=1 

    Slides (PDF should auto-download when you click the link): https://www.training.nih.gov/_assets/Slides-12_13_2010

    2016 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

    in Biology

    Posted · Edited by AtomDance

    6 minutes ago, scilinny said:

    Hi all! I'm new to this site, and freaking about applications...

    I applied to 9 so far: UCSF (BMS), Berkeley (CMB), Stanford (Genetics), U Chicago (Human Genetics), U Michigan (Human Genetics) U Penn (GGR), Johns Hopkins (Human Genetics), MIT (Biology), Harvard (BBS). 

    I've gotten an interview for U Chicago (Jan 21-23) but I'm terrified I won't get any others. 

    Anyone else in the same/similar boat?

    I know someone who received an interview from Hopkins' Human Genetics program super late in the game last year (she had to turn it down due to conflicting interviews!), so probably don't freak out about that one yet! 

    2016 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

    in Biology

    Posted

    6 minutes ago, Neurolit said:

    Just want to congratulate all of you receiving invitations to interview! The two schools I've applied to don't notify until later, but reading all your posts containing good news is exciting. I wish all of you the best during your interviews. Go nail them!

    Best of luck with your applications too!!! 

    2016 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

    in Biology

    Posted

    12 minutes ago, Neurolit said:

    Hi everyone, I've been lurking here for a bit. I've also applied this fall but only to my two top-choice phd programs in neuroscience, with the labs I most want to join. I graduated in May and began working as a researcher in a lab at one of two schools I've applied to, and decided that if don't get into one of these schools this year, I'd rather reapply next year a stronger applicant to both and also apply to about six other programs. But hopefully I'll get in this year and that won't be necessary. 

    I've taken a look at the results thread that people have posted above and noticed that my schools last year notified re: interviews in late December and in January. 

    For those of you who have already gotten interview requests, congrats! I hope you'll also post in the results thread so that future applicants will have an idea of when to expect to hear.

    Good luck! :)

    I know I have been/will continue to update the results page as soon as I hear anything... I understand the desperate need for more data during this process!!!

    2016 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

    in Biology

    Posted

    3 hours ago, Microburritology said:

    Balls. My best recommender finally replies, and his response:

    "Nice to hear from you. Been busy between conferences, and anticipate a lot of travelling coming up. You can frame a LoR yourself an i'll be happy submit that or make changes if needed. All the best".

    How the f*** am I supposed to write my own LoR? In a supreme state of panic mode now. Can someone please give me some go-to guidelines, points and maybe an outline of how professors write recommendation letters? Would love to hear it from someone who's been in this situation and has had to do this one. Any help would be appreciated.

    Thank god for grad cafe.

    I bookmarked this article in fear of this very situation. Luckily, I haven't had to write my own LoR (yet?), but my current advisor recommended that if ever need to, to keep it very factual and to leave a blank (or a suggested adjective) so the real writer only has to pick the adjective they really think, but have the rest of the content available to them. 

    E.G. "Microburritology spent X months in my lab doing [good/solid/creative/etc.] work on Y project..."

    2016 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

    in Biology

    Posted

    Thanks.  Do you think it is still worth sending the subject GRE score?  I am not sure if it will help or hurt as many schools highly recommend it, but my score isn't great.  And forgot to mention earlier, my general GRE scores were V169, Q165, AW 4.5.

    Thanks again for your help everyone.  One of the bad things about a small liberal arts school is there aren't many people I can talk about this with and ask questions.

     

    My understanding is the same as what Microburritology said above... your subject GRE score is considered really good! I know someone who got a 75th% on the biochem subject GRE and (with an admittedly very solid application overall) got into several very competitive programs. Your general + subject GRE scores will only help your application (not to mention that a 4.0 GPA is respectable whether it came from an Ivy or a small college). If you look back on other people's profiles in this thread and the one from last year, you'll find many people applying from small liberal arts colleges (I am one of those people). 

    2016 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

    in Biology

    Posted

    Thanks for the responses. After spending the weekend thinking about it, I decided to give the GRE one more shot in the first week of November. I'm going to try to make it my 2nd priority and really focus on my essays, but I think if I can raise my quant score even a small amount, it will be worth it. 

    2016 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

    in Biology

    Posted

    Hello all, I'm a long-time lurker and am finally plucking up the courage to post. Mainly because I could use some advice on whether to retake the GRE for a third time or not. Here's my profile for reference:

    Undergrad Institution: Small liberal arts college
    Major(s): Biology
    Minor(s):
    GPA in Major: 3.28
    Overall GPA: 3.28
    Position in Class: -
    Type of Student: domestic female

    GRE Scores (revised version):
    Q: attempt 1 (149/37%); attempt 2 (153/52%)
    V: attempt 1 (162/90%); attempt 2 (168/98%)
    W: attempt 1 (4.5/80%); attempt 2 (TBA)
    B: N/A
    Research Experience: 1 year thesis research at my undergrad institution (senior year). Currently I'm 1 year into a 2 year research training fellowship which has resulted in 1 first author peer reviewed publication (and another in the works), and a 1st author poster presentation at a big conference this month (October 2015).

    Awards/Honors/Recognitions: My current research project is at a large national research institution for biomedical research (to be intentionally vague...) that awards postbac research fellowships
    Special Bonus Points: Expecting strong to very strong letters of recommendation from my undergrad adviser and from my current lab mentor
    Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I have a chronic illness that I am planning to discuss in my essays to help explain my low GPA
    Applying to Where: Human Genetics/Molecular Medicine/Umbrella programs at:
    Johns Hopkins - U Maryland, Baltimore - UNC Chapel Hill - Duke - Vanderbilt - U Colorado, Anschutz - Baylor College of Medicine, WUSTL

    The weak points in my application are my clearly my quant GRE score and my GPA. My strategy thus far has been to explain the GPA in my essay, and otherwise have a solid GRE with strong letters of rec, strong personal statement, apply only to good fit programs, etc. Unfortunately, despite a great deal of studying (Magoosh, primarily) and a second attempt at the test earlier today, I did not manage to raise my quant GRE score significantly from the lackluster 149 I got the first time. 

    The obvious answer to this problem is to take the GRE again at the end of October, since the official scores should get to the schools before ~Dec 1st deadlines. However, this October is going to be a very busy and hectic month for me even without more studying for the GRE, and I could really, really use the time to work on my essays. I'm not sure taking the GRE again, when it's likely I still won't do better than mid-60%ile with more studying, while potentially weakening the quality of my essays, is a worthwhile strategy. And honestly, I'm just straight out tired of studying for the GRE. 

    I'm open to the idea of taking it again and just dealing with the pressure for another month or so, but before I throw away another $200, I thought I'd post here for any insight/wisdom anyone would be willing to share for my situation. 

    Fargo, ND

    in City Guide

    Posted · Edited by AtomDance

    Hi all, I'm a Fargo native. Feel free to PM me with additional questions.

     

    Yes, it gets very cold, especially January-February. As others have said, I would strongly recommend you come with a car, as you do NOT want to be outside waiting for the (often late, I think) city buses in -30 F weather. You do not want to be outside at all in -30 F weather! Most of us deal with the cold by not really going outside for more than a few minutes to scamper to/from the car. Something to think about if you have dog(s) that love long walks outside! You'll also want to add ~15 minutes to your travel time to let your car warm up before you head out during these extremely cold months. A normal thicker coat could be okay... it will at least be a good start for early winter months (late October-early December), but you might find yourself wanting different gear for the extreme months. Learning how to layer helps a lot too!

     

    You'll learn to bear the cold, but I don't think anyone there ever really adjusts to it. It's a terrible experience each and every year for me, and its a big reason why I left the area for college! Don't let it affect your decisions though- as unpleasant as it is, you do learn to cope (not sure if that's actually inspiring or not!).

     

    In terms of places to live, south Fargo is a perfectly fine area. There's a TON of new development going on in both south Fargo and southern West Fargo (West Fargo is its own city... not the western part of Fargo!), but there's also been a lot of redevelopment in downtown Fargo to make it a more desirable place to live. I'm not sure if the prices downtown are significantly higher than anywhere else... and I would guess that area is less pet friendly though (just a guess). The only place considered "rough" that I know about is the apartments behind the local Kmart on University Drive, and that may not even be true anymore. Moorhead is a fine place to live too but I don't know of anyone who lives there to work/study in Fargo. Also, traffic coming into Fargo on I94 might be a bit worse than average before and after work (I have no idea about that, really).

     

    Bottom line is anywhere you choose will probably not be terrible, and compared to some other cities will probably be very nice for what you're paying. Downtown/north Fargo are the older parts of the city, and most of the southern part is quite new. 

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