Focus

Not sure if this helps. One mid-tier program interviewed sixteen and accepted half with the goal of matriculating four. Another program interviewed sixty and accepted half with the goal of matriculating twenty. From my experiences it seems that accepting half of the interviewees is fairly normal.

Maybe look at University Colorado Denver Immunology or Oregon Health and Science University. OHSU just got a billion dollars for cancer research through the Knight Foundation. They're both mid-tier and have some good things going for them.

As an undergrad, I use a planner religiously and have a decent sense of how long certain tasks will take me (usually by estimating and multiplying by a factor of 2). However, the best way to be productive is to use all the little "unusable" blocks of time to be productive or self-organize. I keep Evernote on my phone and read papers or notes when waiting at the store, for the bus, or when using the restroom instead of playing a mindless game or checking social media. I also use ColdTurkey to block me from all distracting sites on my laptop for HUGE blocks of time. I find that once I get the ball rolling on my projects the rest goes over relatively smoothly. I also periodically turn off my phone and separate from the ability to quickly take a peek and check up on things. There's often times when I get antsy and feel like I can't be productive, but a lap around the building or a couple of quick stretches and a drink of water usually calm me down enough to settle back into work for the rest of the afternoon. For grad school, I have no intention of spending 12 hours a day on the campus or in lab with only 6 of it being truly productive. I much prefer to "do my time" and get my work done so I can go home. I'm hoping to spend about 10 hours a day with about 90% efficiency on my work, but we'll see how that works out.

"It'll take me about five to six years" - Me to everybody else "I think I have what it takes to earn a PhD... I mean, I do, right..?" - Me to myself every night

I feel your pain. I'm getting married in July before grad school and the drama is through the roof. It turns out weddings can turn the most sane and rational parents into complete maniacs! I get to uninvite extended family from the rehearsal dinner and unschedule myself and my fiance from family reunion activities. We've got a wedding to throw and a honeymoon to go on people!

Spirit Airlines connects LAX to Seattle if you don't mind being cramped and packing extremely light (carry on's have an extra fee). They are certainly hard to beat if you don't have any bags in tow. The flight between the two is a little on the longer side for a small plane (~2hr 45min) but it's certainly do-able. If you just want to do a broad search and don't mind mix-and-matched carriers, maybe try skyscanner.com? I use them for all of my flight searches.

road kill

The first session from the 7th to 10th.

Also, I just got accepted into OHSU's PMCB program. Feeling quite happy with myself as I loved the campus, city, program, and faculty when I visited.

I interviewed for U Iowa Immunology last week (18-20th) and haven't heard back yet. The program director said that we could expect to hear back "pretty soon". I'd assume the admissions committee needs at least a full week to meet and choose applicants so I wouldn't worry too much, just keep an eye on those survey results!

I suppose that doesn't bode very well for the rest of us waiting to hear back from UW immuno either. I'm sorry to hear that; I wish you the best of luck with your other application.

I was put in a similar position. However, I still maintain contact with this mentor and he is still employed where I was researching with him. The program contacted me because I stated I accomplished X and Y with him which they were impressed with, yet I did not include him as a letter writer (because he isn't exactly in my desired field). Only a day after the letter was submitted, I was invited to an interview. In my case, it seemed that the program simply seeking verification that I did do X, Y, and Z for this professor as I worked with him in a fairly limited capacity other than these two things. I only offer this as a counterargument to peachypie (above). While it may be true that this person may not be the best person to speak of your abilities, it may further suspicion if they (for some reason) are seeking verification of a specific part of your SOP or application. Obviously, this is a very application specific dilemma; I wish you the best of luck!

Ahh, that's excruciatingly awkward.

I was thinking of maybe waiting a little while more. I was definitely considering reaching out to the program as well. Maybe in just a few more days though as I, too, wouldn't like to be annoying (it is only the 2nd business day of 2016). If I don't hear back from UW (perhaps by the end of the week), I do intend on reaching out to solidify my interest in their program and show that I have been keeping tabs on their admission process with great interest.

Yeah, I'm here in Seattle as well. I'm sure that our location is no coincidence. Perhaps (and this may be a stretch) the admissions committee is saving us for a local list to call on later in the application process. I know I would drive over in a heartbeat if called, even two months down the road. The committee may also be worried about our location in terms of our reasons for applying. I know that, on top of research, a noteworthy factor in my application was convenience (no packing up and moving across the country) and the expanding biomedical presence in the entire Sound. They may be worried that we are simply applying out of convenience or familiarity with the area and its industry. The counterargument is that they know (and I know) given programs of equal standing/research fit/etc., I would choose the one closest to home. I think it's likely we'll be called in on short notice if they receive fewer acceptances than they have room for. Either way, I'm happy to have not received that flat rejection.

Same here. I was expecting to receive that rejection email earlier in the week. I'm crossing my fingers that I made some sort of waitlist.

I included a section for a few professors of interest (I didn't contact any beforehand). It strongly tied into my research interests and my justifications for choosing the particular university and program.

I think I missed the boat on UC Irvine CMB and WashU Immunology invites, but to my delight I was just invited to interview with OHSU PMCB. What a wonderful early Christmas present.

Congrats! When is your interview weekend? I'm interviewing for UColorado's immunology program on 1/10-1/13.

Immunology. I think the due date for my program is the 1st of January? I just opted to submit my application early with the rest of the (early) December due dates. I figured I might as well have it out of my hair.

Thanks for this! It makes my (not very) patient waiting just a tiny bit more bearable. In other news I got an invitation to my "safety" school, U Iowa. Great research fit, but kind of hundreds of miles from anybody I hold dear. Hopefully the research and faculty more than make up for the distance from family.

Even if it were something with his letter, it's great that they sought him out to clarify instead of binning your application!

On a similar note; I got contacted yesterday by one of my programs. They requested a fourth LOR from a mentor that I briefly mentioned in my SOP. They really wanted to hear his opinion on our experience working together. I'm thinking it isn't a bad thing at all. When you interview for a job, you can expect that your future employer might find it worthwhile to speak more in-depth with your former employer. I figure the same may very well apply here. In fact, if the program is taking the time and energy to reach out to your letter writers, I'm thinking it may be a very good sign that you are a promising applicant.

Ah, now THIS is exciting for me! I suppose I can expect to be either very happy or very sad somewhat soon. haha.

I would wait at least another full business day; these admissions committees are understandably busy right now. That being said, I'd email by early Thursday to ensure you weren't forgotten in the shifting paperwork! Congratulations on the interview.