berba9

Thanks a lot, I got really late in replying because of my exams and presentations... I've seen quite a few ads for Belmont on the international house mailing list and will try for that. From what I remember, 9th street pretty much had everything so I don't mind being confined to that area...Other than that I guess I'll have to make do with DATA buses whenever they come around!

I'm an international student and I'm going to be attending Duke. I spent a summer at Duke itself 2 years ago (staying in University Apartments) so I have a vague idea of the area but not much detail...I had a couple of questions: 1. I'm not going to own a car and all the research labs I'm interested are on the edge of West Campus (Science drive/Research drive). So I thought it would be best to stay near there. Does anyone have any tips about apartments in that area? I've talked to a few people and googled a bit and narrowed it down to 4 places: Heights La Salle, Erwin Terrace, Trinity Commons, and Belmont.Is there anything I should know about any of these 4? My main concern is safety, then cleanliness (no bedbugs please!). I don't mind noise, and the 'stupider' amenities (swimming pools, etc) I don't care about. I'm willing to spend upto 800 if forced to. 2. Erwin Mill and Station 9 (near East Campus), and Erwin Terrace all seem to be favoured by undergrads. I've read a lot of complaints about the noise and dirt in undergrad housing -- is it as bad as the hype? And, if I choose these places will I be the only grad student there or is there a small number already there? 3. I'm guessing none of these places are furnished...so how do people generally go about moving in? And to what level do we have to buy our own? Mattress? The solid bed itself? Stove? Or is this all variable? 4. Any other tips (housing/living in Durham/anything!) will be much appreciated

This was recently published and is quite horrifying, but talks about events quite a while ago. http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/04/18/i-was-an-animal-experimenter/

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.

Me too -- anybody has plans/info for housing?

Thanks for all your advice I've chosen Duke, mostly the deciding factor was that I found a 3rd professor whose research was very exciting there.

Thanks When I googled backstop I ended up with some consulting company website! Anyway, the link is both good and bad news (POI won't take me if he doesn't get a grant) I guess.

Yup, Ken Dill was a prescribed textbook for our UG coursework and it was a revelation to see his name in the flesh, so to speak. As an international student, I didn't visit but had skype interviews- I guess I marginally preferred the conversation with the Stony Brook professor to Duke, but marginally. I've not heard yet from all the students I've written to but so far everything has been positive. I'll try and find out stuff about rent costs at SB. Gut says Duke, but rationally I haven't found an answer. Even my LOR writers whom I asked for help are divided. I'm guessing I'll go with my gut if it remains like this... Thanks so much for your help btw

Yup, in terms of stipends it's advantage Durham, they pay slightly* more and the area seems much cheaper. On the other hand my POI at SB seemed very secure about funding... Every time I think I found a reason to choose one over the other, some counter comes up. In my head, Duke would be more prestigious than SB. Is this impression accurate (especially since I know nothing about the reputation of the Laufer Center), and how much should I bother about prestige of the institute? EDIT: Just read the fine print, all told it's ~12% less, quite a lot I guess.

I was told this: What exactly does that mean (backstop)? As far as I had understood, the program funds students for the 1st 2 years (which seems to be confirmed here) and after that only professors who have grant funding take students since we're supposed to get our stipends from them (if we don't get fellowships). Any ideas what this mail means???

For Duke in particular they list very detailed statistics for all their programs - it varies heavily from program to program. https://gradschool.duke.edu/about/program-statistics In Wisconsin too it varies by program- their genetics program is (as I learnt) really tough for internationals but I know their chemistry program isn't as hard. I couldn't find any officially listed stats, but there was this about it. Another no-go area (in general, may vary for specific programs) is the University of California system. Someone posted that UCSF Tetrad would interview 2 and accept 1 international student this year. I think Berkeley is similar. Chapel Hill also told me that they have limited international funding but I think the situation is better than Wisconsin. In summary (though not as a hard rule), private colleges will have more funding for internationals than state colleges. Btw, glancing through your stats- they're quite strong, if you're very interested in any of the restrictive places you could ask a professor there before applying- I think you'll have a shot.

So I'm right down to the deadline, and this is my situation: I'm basically choosing between Duke (Genetics and Genomics) and Stony Brook (Genetics) I've spoken to the professors I'm interested in at both places and really enjoyed the interviews, I've got great feedback about the profs from their students, and they seem to want a student next year. The work at both places is quite exciting. I have a few more options at Duke in terms of professors while the funding situation seems a little more secure at SB. According to these (http://chronicle.com/article/NRC-Rankings-Overview-/124733/), the genetics program at Duke has a great ranking while SB isn't far back. (The professors I am interested in at SB are affiliated to the Laufer Center, in case that is relevant) I'd really appreciate any help/advice.

I understand all of that, but I don't see how within 12 mins "fit" could be judged, especially given that (in my opinion) I answered the questions in those 12 mins quite OK, and that I was being judged not by my POI but a different professor. The sign off from the interviewer was "ok i think that's enough, looking forward to seeing you." It struck me as weird to say "that's enough" having not asked much, but that last phrase gave me quite a lot of hope too... The rejection letter was super generic (which bothers me still) but it sort-of hinted at funding, so maybe that's it.

The complete opposite, in a way, happened to me. I had a skype interview 1 on 1 with a random faculty member (not my POI). I answered the preliminary questions about my own research experience and future interests competently enough and was then told to ask questions about the program. After a single question from me (again nothing out of the ordinary) I was told by the prof "ok i think thats enough" and the interview was wrapped up. Within 12 mins! (for the record most of my other interviews have been 25-30 mins) Today I got a rejection with no explanations at all. I'm quite pissed, and wondering if I should mail the program asking them why, and whom I should mail within the program...I really really liked the work of 1 of the profs there. (I realise it's obvious which univ this is by looking at my signature)

So, my Duke interview was on Dec 18th and I was told I'll hear back 'shortly.' I got an acceptance this week Not sure how relevant it is to Columbia, (I was later told by Duke that I should wait for a short while after the final interview weekend - which was last weekend, so find out if they have another weekend, they may delay their decisions till then)