jaesango

I can definitely attest to this. The graduate students in my department at Dana Farber were also really spread on their opinions about the program and how they were doing in their own labs. Harvard is for a certain type of student with a certain level of intellectual/workplace maturity, and yes, sometimes tensions can run high between labs and even within labs-- everyone is (and should be) really proud of the work they do. 

What makes you want to do cancer immunotherapy? I did my undergrad thesis in cancer immunology, and I would say there are really only a handful of people at a handful of places doing purely translational work. Let's put it this way: do you want to do your PhD working on a topic like optimizing CAR T cells so they are 10% cheaper for the clinic, or do you want to do your PhD working on a topic like understanding why certain cancers elicit an immune response and why others don't. Don't get me wrong-- I agree that the field is hot, but because it's quite interdisciplinary, for young researchers it can be quite challenging. I'm one of those people who think that the purpose of graduate school is to not necessarily find the next Nobel prize-winning discovery, but to learn how to do good science.  
It's unfortunate that your letters are not great (if they are what you believe them to be). You're right in that you can't change them, but you should also realize that they are the number one or number two most important part of your graduate school application. If you can take a year off to work in the lab and have your current PI write a glowing letter (specifically addressing how you have found your motivation and are a changed person), then it would be worthwhile to retake the GRE and reapply next cycle. Otherwise, I think IU is a good school to pursue your PHD-- there are great, reputable PI's there, and while there may not be a cancer immunotherapy center like one you see at Sloan Kettering or MD Anderson, you will find a lab that will teach you the fundamentals on how to think like any cancer immunologist. If you read up a bit on the history, you'll realize that most of the "giants" were trained as fundamental immunologists or molecular biologists and slowly migrated into the field after they had already established their own labs.
tl;dr You don't need to train as a cancer immunologist to become a great cancer immunologist, and the work you do as a PhD student may not represent your greatest contribution to science

Hope you hear back soon! I think a lot of home programs are doing rolling admissions

Hope you hear back soon! I think a lot of home programs are doing rolling admissions

sigh, this is why Harvard has a rep for snobby students

sigh, this is why Harvard has a rep for snobby students

sigh, this is why Harvard has a rep for snobby students

sigh, this is why Harvard has a rep for snobby students

Just got a phone call from Boston College saying I have been accepted!!! Now to make a tough decision between Notre Dame and BC.

If you decide to reapply next year, how will your application will be different from the one you submitted this year?  In my experience, it is difficult to find tech work for just a year.  The PI/lab spends resources/time to train you and have the expectation for you to stay ~2 years, so they may not be happy if you leave within a year, unless you plan to tell them that straight up and see what they say.
I have been a technician at a school I want to attend (a couple years ago), but it still did not work out in my favor.  I know a couple other people in similar boat in this application cycle where it didn't work out.  Still, it probably varies case by case.  I don't think it helps much unless the PI you tech for is on admissions or something.

Stanford Cancer Biology invite! super hyperventilating right now

CONGRATS! Here's to hoping they get back to the rest of us soon...

Thanks! according to the survey no one else has heard back so I think they'll be sending more out, so I wouldn't lose hope yet! 

Stanford Cancer Biology invite! super hyperventilating right now

I can't stop smiling!!
I was getting so nervous because I haven't heard anything from the programs I applied to then BAM! duke invite!
team no pubs! 

I wouldn't lose all hope. As I posted before, my friend told me his former UCSF PI said BMS invites would come out Dec 18th. The PI is in immuno so maybe, immuno invites are coming out a bit later?

Thanks for the response.  My edit says I found one on the results survey.  I think I just didn't get one this time... and I'm trying to be okay with that.  (It's like 50% working but still)

No. 
Calm down. We're not here to feed into people's anxiety and worries.
Plenty of invites have not been sent out. You already received an interview from a top university and should be proud and excited for things to come.

My interview for Penn BGS came from the director of the program, not a POI
Edit: but it's more than likely that they send out invites in waves so I wouldn't worry too much right now

Does wishing someone get rejected from all the programs they applied to count as abusive call outs?

Does wishing someone get rejected from all the programs they applied to count as abusive call outs?

Me too!

A - men
While it's perfectly fine to have conservative views on the admissions process (we really don't know what's going on at each institution!), we should be supportive of each other, especially since waiting to hear back is so nerve-wracking. I personally don't have good grades either but I'm hoping my GRE and my research experience/letters make up for it. 

Same here! During sophomore year I decided I wanted to grad school though. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against pre-meds personally and I think my research interests in cancer and human disease will put me in contact with lots of MDs-- I just don't agree with the way they approach learning
creating knowledge > regurgitating knowledge imho

Dude.  You're speaking kinda out of your butt.  I think it's horrible to tell the people that they should go for a masters instead of a phd for something such as GPA.  I mean, I'll always encourage people to apply widely because you hardly know what will come through in your applications, but what you said about that person's GPA was mean.  If I remember correctly, they had held a research job all the way through undergrad.  I mean when I first read through it I missed that and thought that maybe their record wouldn't show the aptitude for grad school, but it really does.  Maybe no one else will agree with me, but I think you're trying to make yourself feel better by saying this stuff about other people.  Go look at the results board; people get rejected from all kinds of schools with a 3.9.