bioconfused

Dont take the rejection from scripps to heart. Heard they might not be at the best place funding wise for international students right now. Maybe a few more schools at the top but not the top 5 would have helped! I have fewer/lesser research experiences than you and i got interviews from my top choices. I wasnt really looking at the top 5 because i feel like as an international student i might need more mentoring which i might not get at the top 5 schools cause of how competitive each of the candidates are. Dont lose hope. Just be confident about your prev research experience when you talk during interviews.

Hi everybody, Im a student from India, currently in my final and fourth year of my undergraduate degree in Biotechnology. Undergrad Institution: Averagely reputed institution in India, not known for biological sciences, primarily an engineering schoolMajor(s): BiotechnologyMinor(s): N/AGPA in Major: 9.17/10Overall GPA: WES gave me 4.0 on 4.0Position in Class: Near the TopType of Student: internationalGRE Scores (revised):Q: 167 (94%)V: 163 (92%)W: 4.5 (80%)B: TOEFL Total: 119 (Reading:30, Listening 30,Speaking 28 and Writing:30 ), out of 120.Research Experience: 2 summers of research at a lab in reputed national institution and one semester continuing the same work . One more summer at another top national institute. ! semester of part time bioinformatics project in college, 1 more semester of undergrad thesis (current), none of it is/was paid internships..Awards/Honors/Recognitions: not availablePertinent Activities or Jobs: N/AAny Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: National level swimmer (doubt it helped, just a point for small talk)Special Bonus Points: Recommendations from three research guides, two from summer internships and one from college.Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: N/AApplying to Where: Washington University in St. Louis (DBBS -Molecular Genetics and Genomics) University of Washington at Seattle - MCB Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Vanderbilt - IGP Albert Einstein Tufts - Sackler Biomed - USC - PIBBS Scripps

This might be too late, but out of the programs i I was looking at, this verification is definitely required by Mount Sinai, Johns Hopkins, CMU (Biological sciences). I had to jump through a lot of hoops to get it done, and it is quite expensive! which was why i was doubtful about doing it. The first part has been answered by DocTa, but I had to pay 30$ to send it one university. The 200$ was only for my copy, plus shipping internationally cost more as well. This is an extremely expensive process and should be avoided if possible. But if its absolutely necessary for your program, the consolation is that the transcripts are reviewed favourably. I am from India, and not from one of the IITs (which seem to be the only place that people in the US recognise). I sent in a copy of my syllabus as well. My GPA was bumped up as compared to the direct conversion where you divide a 10 point GPA by 2.5. There also seemed to be trouble because WES mentioned they need degree certificates and a complete transcript. And im still in my undergrad. But i got a letter from college stating when my prospective graduation date is and sent in my transcript along with this letter and the syllabus copies. And got the results in 10-12 days.

Anyone has any ideas of how international interview invites are handled? Whether the interview invites go out at the same time when they know theyll be doing a skype interview? And does anybody have any idea whether any other schools/programs (apart from mount sinai and Washington MCB) expect international students to fly to the US for interviews?

Has anybody heard from University of Washington at all? Esp Mol and Cell Bio!? Any prospective interview dates?

Well they wont be reimbursing the whole amount. They have an upper limit, I think its around 450 dollars and they said they would reimburse that much. Maybe i can talk to them about increasing the limit, but not by much i assume. I will have to figure out this whole VISA thing. How do I tag people on this?!!! people

So update on Mount Sinai: They dont offer skype interviews as a norm from the last few years. International srudents do fly over. But if its really not possible at all, then they do make accommodations. But its done on a case by case basis. So I guess I'll have to go. I'm excited, but the flights in january are just insanely expensive!! :| almost double, compared to december and february.

Well, what option did I have

hey mrpoopybutthole What interview options(dates) were you offered? and what program, as in the interviews were for which MTA?

Can I PM you? my email seemed like they were asking me to come there.

Did you get an email from Mount Sinai? And will you be flying for every interview weekend? i dont see it panning out well unless i know I can combine several interviews on one trip. But I've only heard from Mount Sinai so i shouldnt get ahead of myself. But I did check out the flights and they seem more expensive in jan than in the next few weeks. And i cant really stay there for too long, i have to work on my undergraduate thesis which I would potentially begin in January. Which is why I'm worried. Everybody I spoke to, indians in graduate programs in the US said they did skype interviews. so im quite confused now, and I'm supposed to be studying for a final tomorrow :|

Hello Infinito, Yes, from my seniors that ive spoken to, they have had Online interviews. But in my email, an online interview was not given as an option. They only asked me to choose between 7,8 jan or 10,11 jan. So I'm a bit confused and I have to decide and let them know by tomorrow. Im willing to do it, but it would be useful to hear from other places first and see if flying there would make more sense if i could interview at multiple places on the same journey.

Hello everyone, Are there any international students from India out there? who are applying to biomedical programs? I got an interview invite from Mount Sinai today and they asked me to choose between two options. Id really like to hear from an international applicant about interviews. or someone already attending to give some insight about attending interviews for international students. Do they expect us to fly to the other side of the globe? Im willing to do it if it is necessary. But I have to add that the interview dates fall during the semester and travelling to the US is no joke. Its at least a 20 hour flight, to say nothing of the cost.