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amertume

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Posts posted by amertume

    2015 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

    in Biology

    Posted

    I felt the same way eteshoe!

    I knew UChicago was the best overall choice for me but for some reason I couldn't hit the accept button! I had to talk with all of my friends/family about the pros/cons of every school and each one of them were like "well it sounds like your mind is made up..." but its hard taking that step. my family was fed up with me because i wouldn't stop talking about it haha.

    i wasn't even that excited to accept the offer after a point because i felt like i was beating the horse to a pulp!

     

    but man, can i tell you how nice it was right after hitting the send button. it was a whole new wave of excitement! within an hour after sending in my submission i had e-mails from the dean and most of the professors i spoke with e-mailing me how excited they were to have me! it was such a good feeling, especially to know what i will be doing for the next few years! 

    so guys don't be afraid to make that leap. if your heart is set on it and your head tells you its the best choice, hitting send is a HUGE weight off of your shoulders!!!

     

    LOL ^ I can relate to this. I kept whining about which program I should choose and everyone I talked to were like "it seems PRETTY obvious which one you're leaning more heavily towards, what's the hesitation?" They just don't understanddddddd

     

    P.S. Congrats on committing!!! :)

    2015 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

    in Biology

    Posted

    Thanks for the advice, and this just adds so much more to research in the next month.

    I am really interested in the programs for career development and Emory is on the list for receiving the BEST grant (along with UNC and Vanderbilt).

     

    What types of seminars are they holding for careers in industry and have you applied for the internship that this grant supports?

     

    What is your take on the MS in Clinical Research and Certificate Program in Translational Research?

    They seem like great programs and I've heard one anecdote of the Translational Research Certificate landing an Emory student a job.

     

    I'll message you!

    2015 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

    in Biology

    Posted · Edited by amertume

    So I am at a huge crossroads in the decision process. I was accepted to a lot of schools I considered reach schools and now the process is overwhelming.

     

    Accepted:

    Vanderbilt IGP,

    UNC-CH BBSP,

    Emory Molecular and Systems Pharmacology,

    Columbia Pharmacology Graduate Program,

    UF IDP, 

     

    Rejected: Duke and UPenn

     

    I see the benefit of Vanderbilt, Chapel Hill, and UF as they are all umbrella programs that would give me the option to choose from over 200 labs from 8 or more departments. I am very interested in more than 10 researchers at each school and have no doubt that I would do well at any of these.

     

    I am specifically interested in Pharmacology and got accepted to the Emory and Columbia pharm programs. These will each be smaller (10-12 at Emory and 4-6 at Columbia, I think). They are also limited in the number of primary faculty, since this is a direct admit program. Although, I believe they both allow students to choose labs from outside of the primary faculty in pharmacology.

     

    Hello!! Congrats on Emory :) Hope to see you in the fall! As for your concerns, you are right, since the molecular and systems pharmacology program is actually under Emory's umbrella program, you can rotate with any of the faculty associated with GDBBS (so if you're interested in a lab in cancer bio or neuroscience, for example, you can still rotate with them and even do your thesis in those labs outside of MSP)

    2015 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

    in Biology

    Posted

    Hmm, I've been thinking alot about that since it's been really hard to eliminate schools and decide where I want to go since the science is great at all the schools I've applied to. I will definitely add this to my pros/cons list now. It's a good perspective to have. 

     

    Although to follow up, what would you do if you liked the environment at multiple places? 

     

    I did end up liking multiple programs, and across the board, they all had very similar pros - good funding, interesting research, smart people, interesting cities and things to do outside of lab, livable stipend, etc. But I think what ended up doing it for me were the people and the personalities I could see myself with over 5-7 years as well as personalities I knew I wanted to be surrounded with (the students at each place were pretty different!) I think I also kept in mind what kind of prospects I wanted for job choices after PhD as well, and the projects and research done at one would clearly help me achieve those goals better/faster/more efficiently. I don't know if this is actually someone that people think is important to keep in mind though, haha

     

     

    Great advice, amertume - thanks!

     

    No probz :)

    2015 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

    in Biology

    Posted · Edited by amertume

    I have a question to those who already know which school they are attending. Did you officially accept the acceptance before you were done interviewing with all your programs?

     

    I had an interview after I had already accepted to attend Emory, and I accepted in spite of this mostly because the school I was interviewing with after wasn't that highly ranked for me compared to Emory. I also clicked with the students as well as fellow interviewees really well at Emory, COL was going to be much lower in comparison, and funding is guaranteed.

     

    A grad student in the lab I worked in during undergrad gave me really good advice when it comes to choosing schools: that science is science wherever you go, and you can do good science wherever (slightly exaggerated, especially if the school doesn't have funding or resources (people, equipment, etc) to let you do good science), but if you're stuck between a lab whose research you find very interesting and a lab you know you would get along with very well, she said she'd choose the people over the science. There are a lot of factors that go into choosing a grad school, but at the heart of it, I think it's just whether or not you're a good fit for the school and if the school fits well with you. Just perspective from someone who chose to accept to attend a program before finishing all her interviews :)

    Applying for Neuroscience/Neurobiology Ph.D. programs for Fall 2015

    in Biology

    Posted

    I'm surprised I haven't heard anything about NYU on the board in a while. Any applicants to the Neural Science PhD? I know the Sackler (Neuroscience) and NYU Neural Science (CNS) applications are reviewed concomitantly and I saw someone post this on the results page:

    • Called the admissions office on 1/26. They said that my application was still under review and that I would hear back no later than mid-February. They confirmed that they were still sending out interview invitations.

    Last week several people posted hearing rejections from Sackler but no one posted interviews invites, and few people have explicitly mentioned anything about CNS  since december (although I suspect some of the posts labelled "Neuroscience" are applications to CNS). Still haven't heard anything since I was told my application was complete after I submitted my materials.

     

    I think I read somewhere that NYU made all decisions by Feb 15 for that program :\ I heard back from them before that

    2015 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

    in Biology

    Posted

    i can't stress fit enough. throughout every one of my interviews it has been SO apparent as to whether I fit or not. its been very surprising to look at the vibes a certain grad program gives off and whether or not i feel like its the right place. for me, it's pretty apparent where i'm going because the fit seemed so perfect - something i didn't really feel at other schools. anyone else feel the same way, that one school is just "the one"?

     

    Yes! Which is why after I got my final acceptance, I've decided to commit to Emory :) If anyone's attending Emory this fall, shoot me a message!

    Applying for Neuroscience/Neurobiology Ph.D. programs for Fall 2015

    in Biology

    Posted

    Hi Guys, looking at the results page and what people have posted in this thread, I see that people are getting invite and rejections from a lot of programs that I applied for, while I haven't heard anything from those programs. How likely is it that for people in my situation to be placed on a wait list? 

     

    If the school does interviews then you are added to waitlist after your interview, depending on how things went. Otherwise its probably a rejection.

     

    ^ I'm of the same opinion as kimmibeans :\, but if anyone knows differently, feel free to correct me

    2015 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

    in Biology

    Posted

    For anyone waiting to hear back from Scripps, I just emailed and I got kind of a vague email back.. not sure what it's supposed to mean (for context, I asked specifically if all interview invites have been sent out):

     

    Dear X,

     

    Thank you for your interest in the graduate program at The Scripps Research Institute.  Students selected to visit Scripps for interviews will be contacted via email before the interview dates scheduled for each campus.  The process is currently underway and will continue until approximately the first week of March.  All notifications will be made by April 15.

     

    I hope this information is helpful.

     

     

    I do know that their first interview weekend is in two or three weeks, but does this mean they're not done reviewing applications? :\ They wouldn't NOT tell me all interviews have been sent out because they don't want to indirectly reject me, right? Don't wanna get my hopes up :(

    2015 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

    in Biology

    Posted

    Congrats on your acceptance, that's inspiring to me.

    I just touched bases with my school of choice, whom extended their deadlines already. My POI there says they nominated me for their fellowship funding. I just hope I get an invite now ><. Either way, 3 invites for the next month, which I'm excited for.

     

    Thank you :) good luck with your interviews!

    2015 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

    in Biology

    Posted

    Okay, I'm okay with it being abnormal so long as others think it is also a polite idea (as long as you don't sound too much like a brown noser in the email or anything)

     

    I did it and I got a really positive response from the people who interviewed me. One even sent me a really long personal email after I was accepted to give more info on the program and specific department he's in. I think as long as it's just a thank you email and not really a email trying to subtley find out if you got accepted or something, it should be fine.

     

    For those of you who have been to an interview already, can you give any info on the "optional" drink hours at night. I have interview next weekend and there is the option to go to a bar with current students and applicants on Friday night. I am not super antisocial but I am a bit shy so I don't have a huge desire to go out drinking after a long day of interviews. I will probably be trying to sneak in some of my own research if time allows anyway since I will be missing work all day Friday as is. Anyway, I am not opposed to grabbing a beer if others recommend it. Did you learn a lot about the program/environment that you didn't from the dinners you went to already? Any advice on this? Also, any info on whether you were able to get any of your own work done during interview weekends or if you were completely busy every minute? Thanks!

    I opted out of the optional bar thing with current students. When they say optional, it's really optional, I think they realize not everyone likes drinking or are allergic or feel uncomfortable. You have other opportunities to get to know the current students from dinner and your escorts and lunch and whatnot, so I say don't feel pressured to go drink if you don't want to. My interview roommate did say that it was fun, though.

     

    I was busy pretty much every minute. My roommate and I did spend some time the first night to read a few papers, though, but I think it'll vary depending on the program

    2015 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

    in Biology

    Posted · Edited by amertume

    To those who are still waiting on Stanford Biosciences:

     

    I received an email earlier today congratulating me on my recent invitation, but that they really do need 2 copies of official transcripts (my bad) and I would have to send it before the interview. This was the first contact I have received from Stanford since the initial confirmation of application submission. I followed up to confirm that I was selected for an interview, to which they responded that invitation packets were sent out via postal mail earlier this week.

     

    So if you haven't heard from Stanford yet, make sure you are checking your mail this week!

     

    So do you know if they are sending invites via email at all? o.o

    2015 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

    in Biology

    Posted

    At this point no news is bad news right?  I'm wondering mainly about UCSF Tetrad.  Invitations were sent out before Christmas, as mentioned above, but there also haven't been any rejections sent out.  Does that mean the deadline for responding about the interview just hasn't passed yet, and they're sitting on the applications until then?

     

    I don't  think no news is necessarily bad news unless it's for programs that have confirmed that all interviews have been sent out. Many schools do interviews in waves and a lot of them will be in February. Unless you got a official, hard rejection, I'd say chin up! It is nerve wracking but you never know. I see interviews posting on the results page from programs I thought were done sending out invites.

    2015 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

    in Biology

    Posted

    I'm waiting on Washington's Micro program also...all of my other programs got back to me the week of Dec 15 so the waiting is killing me! 

     

    I'm hoping that if I get an interview there the interview days aren't Thursday/Friday like for their MCB program...I'm an undergrad so having to leave on Wednesday morning means I miss all of my Wed/Thurs classes (I realize this isn't a big deal in the long run, but I still find it stressful)

     

    I see you have an interview at OSU, will I be seeing you this Thursday?

    Applying for Neuroscience/Neurobiology Ph.D. programs for Fall 2015

    in Biology

    Posted

    Question for those of you still attending to this post: 

     

    When you applied, did you seek out PIs that you wanted to work with ahead of time?  

     

    If so, did you seek to ensure they had funding?

     

    Did the school(s) you applied to have mandatory lab rotations that influenced this preemptive communication?

     

    I don't know if you meant this post was meant for current grad students attending school already, but I did contact PI's before I applied asking if they will be taking grad students. The majority got back to me with a comment on my credentials and with either a "yes, I will be taking students" (which hopefully means they have funding), and some flat out just told me they don't have funding so they can't. Emailing the PI's was also very helpful because one requested a phone call with me (and I got an interview to the school when interviews went out), and others I got to meet personally at SfN when I attended.

     

    I emailed mainly because there were some schools where there were about 5 or 6 PI's I was interested in, but I didn't want to apply if only 1 or 2 of them were taking students

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