Chrischigta

Same here! I am super happy with my first interview at UPenn, but I am hoping for one or two more However, I am obviously not expecting those to come from MIT or Stanford, but who knows

Missed a call from a suppressed number about two hours ago and now I am obviously going nuts because I am thinking it might have been an interview offer... How long does it usually take for an email to be sent after a call? And do international students get offers via phone at all? The call was probably related to something totally different, but it feels so good to have something to believe in

I don't think that there is an actual problem. I having the same thing showing up on my checklist, but received and interview offer on Monday and was not asked to send them any further materials. However, I wrote an email today just to be sure. As soon as I get a response, I will let you guys know. Personnaly, I think that this is just a matter of what information is "in their online application system". It is very unlikely that the transcripts of all 4 or 5 of us that are in this situation actually got lost..

Wow that is amazing!! It is getting really intense these days with all the invites people are receiving - the waiting is really tough though

Just received an interview offer from UPenn CAMB!! Super happy!!

Was in a weird situation yesterday: Got a notification, that a person from the United States took a look at my ResearchGate profile (it is an automated service that they show you how many people viewed your page and where they come from). As I do not have any scientific relationships to the US, this has to mean that someone from an admission committee did some online research on me, right? Should be a good sign, but totally freaked me out at first

The way I understood it, most schools will send out the invitations for interviews either in the week before christmas or in the first 2 weeks of January, right?

I was in a similar Situation. For two institutions the "shipping date" of my TOEFL scores were pretty late and I was fearing they might not arrive in time. I wrote some quick mails and got responses saying that this is no issue at all. As stated before: That's what the self reported scores are there for

Thanks! But I don't know how many were approved and if all of them have already been notified :/ All the best, let's hope that they didn't get to send all e-mails on Friday (which was when I got the news)!

Yay, UCSD Biomedical Sciences pre-application (mandatory for international students) has been approved, woop woop! So now I am officially allowed to apply

I didn't get any feedback so far, which would be really helpful - so I delete my old post and ask you once again For me as an international student it is really hard to figure out, if my stats are competetive for the schools I am applying to. My univerversity is one of the best in Germany in life science research, so I figured I only want to apply to really good universities in the USA, which would equal an improvement over what I could get in my home country. I found research groups that do great and interesting work for every of the universities listed, so I would be happy to attend any of them Undergrad Institution: Georg-August-University Göttingen (Germany) Major(s): Molecular Medicine GPA (B.Sc.): 3.55 Had a broad curriculum, ranging from phyisical, organic and anorganic chemistry and basic biology over anatomy, biochemistry and physiology to neurology, virology, cancer biology and cardiology. Currently doing my M.Sc., will be finished by May 2015. Graduate Institution: Georg-August-University Göttingen (Germany) Major(s): Molecular Medicine GPA (M.Sc.): 3.45 Position in Class: Not sure exactly, our program itself is already highly competetive with only 20 students being admitted every year. So a rank is not really meaningful here and we do not really get those numbers in Germany anyway. Type of Student: International TOEFL: 115/120 GRE Scores (revised/old version): Q: 163 (86%) V: 159 (81%) !!! The scores are from different test dates, but some schools consider the best combination in case of multiple scores. If not applicable, my Verbal is 157 (74%) instead. W: 4.0 (56%) Biochem: 670 (93%) Research Experience: - 1 Year in the lab (Neuropediatrics / Peroxisomebiology) where I've just started writing my master thesis, working with s. cerevisiae on targeting of peroxisomal proteins. Currently working on a publication, where I am going to be 2nd author. We are planning to send it in by the end of this year. - About half a year in the lab (Molecular Psychiatry) where I wrote my bachelor thesis, working on a protein, which is mutated in rare forms of dementia Two summerprojects: - 5 weeks at Manchester University during my undergrad (2012), heart failure research (histological examination of mouse heart tissue) - 10 weeks at the Cancer Science Institue Singapore (Part of NUS) this year, working on deubiquitinating enzymes involved in cancer pathways Then numerous other, short lab internships in my home institution in order to get familiar with a wide range of methods in biological and medical research. My study program had a strong focus on practical experience in general, so during my 4,5 years of studying I was in the lab about 2 years full-time. Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Stipend of the German National Academic Foundation (extremely prestigious in Germany and usually internationally recognized); Stipend of the Medical School of my home institution; Several small stipends for my summerprojects. Pertinent Activities or Jobs: TA in my current lab during this summer for a few months Applying to Where: My main focus / interest lies on organelles and intracellular targeting of proteins, as well as on organization / compartimentalization of cells. Also pretty interested in signaling and cellular communication. As a result, most programs are in neurosciences or molecular / cell biology. NYU Sackler umbrella program Columbia U, Neurobiology an behavior; 2nd option: CMBS Rockefeller U Weill Cornell / Sloan Keithering BMSC Harvard MCO MIT Biology UCSD Biomedical Sciences UCSF TETRAD Stanford Biosciences (Home Areas: Biochemistry, Neuroscience, Molecular and Cellular Physiology) UC Berkeley MCB UCLA Biosciences, Cell & Devel. Biol Princeton Mol Biol UPenn BGS, Cell and Mol Biol UChicago Cell and Mol Biol

I have a question with regard to the recommendation letters: Of how much importance is the reputation of the faculty writing the letter? I am pretty confident that all my three letters will be really positive, but they are all from relatively young group leaders, none of them a "well-known" professor with a lot of standing in their fields. I chose them, because I had the closest relationship to them and felt they would be able to write the most personal and positive letters (I was doing independent research projects with all of them, working on a publication with one of them atm), but I am afraid that it will be drawback that I have no letter from a more well known professor. As an international student it is pretty difficult to guess how this will influence my application, so some advice would be great (not that I would have the time to change anything now^^) !

Undergrad Institution: Georg-August-University Göttingen (Germany) Major(s): Molecular Medicine GPA (B.Sc.): 3.55 Had a broad curriculum, ranging from phyisical, organic and anorganic chemistry and basic biology over anatomy, biochemistry and physiology to neurology, virology, cancer biology and cardiology. Currently doing my M.Sc., will be finished by May 2015. Graduate Institution: Georg-August-University Göttingen (Germany) Major(s): Molecular Medicine GPA (M.Sc.): 3.45 Position in Class: Not sure exactly, our program itself is already highly competetive with only 20 students being admitted every year. So a rank is not really meaningful here and we do not really get those numbers in Germany anyway. Type of Student: International TOEFL: 115/120 GRE Scores (revised/old version): Q: 163 (86%) V: 159 (81%) The scores are from different test dates, but some schools consider the best combination in case of multiple scores. If not applicable, my Verbal is 157 (74%) instead. W: 4.0 (56%) Biochem: 670 (93%) Research Experience: - 1 Year in the lab where I've just started writing my master thesis, working with s. cerevisiae on targeting of peroxisomal proteins. Currently working on a publication, where I am going to be 2nd author. We are planning to send it in by the end of this year. - About half a year in the lab where I wrote my bachelor thesis, working on a protein, which is mutated in rare forms of dementia. Two summerprojects: - 5 weeks at Manchester University during my undergrad (2012), heart failure research (histological examination of mouse heart tissue) - 10 weeks at the Cancer Science Institue Singapore (Part of NUS) this year, working on deubiquitinating enzymes involved in cancer pathways Then numerous other, short lab internships in my home institution in order to get familiar with a wide range of methods in biological and medical research. My study program had a strong focus on practical experience in general, so during my 4,5 years of studying I was in the lab about 2 years full-time. Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Stipend of the German National Academic Foundation; Stipend of the Medical School of my home institution; Several small stipends for my summerprojects. Pertinent Activities or Jobs: TA in my current lab during this summer for a few months Applying to Where: My main focus / interest lies on organelles and intracellular targeting of proteins, as well as on organization / compartimentalization of cells. Also pretty interested in signaling and cellular communication. I would like to work in a multi-disciplinary group in order to learn more computation / modeling, which is very interesting for my research interests but has not been a major part of my curriculum so far. NYU Sackler open program Columbia U, Neurobiology an behavior; 2nd option: CMBS Rockefeller U Weill Cornell Harvard MCO MIT Biology Boston U (?) UCSD UCSF Stanford Berkeley Working out the details of the list at the moment, want to be finished by sunday. For me as an international student it is really hard to figure out, if my stats are competetive for the schools I am applying to. My univerversity is one of the best in Germany in life science research, so I figured I only want to apply to really good universities in the USA, which would equal an improvement over what I could get in my home country.