biochemgirl67

I expected as much. (le sigh) Oh well, it's not the end of the world. I hope you enjoyed Princeton because to be honest, I'm totally not sure what to make of it at all. I checked and no one seems to have posted anything on the survey... So it looks like they're just taking their sweet time!

Before I came back from Vandy, they said that each candidate would get a decision... So they probably just aren't done yet. But the first group had 30, which isn't horribly lower than the second but still significant. I wish they would get done for you and your daughter!

Yeah, I got my email back today with information from the grad student. A little bummed but I guess it's one less thing to worry about. Weird question... Did you share a hotel room there?

Has anyone interviewing at Princeton Molecular Biology this weekend received any information about who you'll be meeting with? I just want to be preparedddddd

I would just do it. These interviews shouldn't take that long and you should be prepared to answer their basic questions about you research, why their program, what are your goals, etc. But if you truly think it will all be too much to handle, you can decline and reschedule. No one on here can actually tell you if it is truly detrimental. It's all just guessing.

I applied directly to the Molecular Biology Program at Princeton and have an interview next weekend there. I don't think there should be a difference in the time they take to get back to you, but who knows for sure. It also may differ in that you're an international student.

Well, also the girl that actually said that stuff to me is a jerk anyways. She thinks she's hot stuff because she is a chemistry major and runs around saying it's hardest science and biochemistry majors are chemistry dropouts. And I'm like seriously? Are we freshmen again? Lol but she uses her dad who is a chemist at a chemical company to get her summer jobs and was trying to use his old PI from his grad school to go to her top choice.

Also... is anyone having Facebook angst with friends posting about every interview/acceptance they get??? My friends going into chemistry programs are getting all their acceptances now and post about EVERY. SINGLE. ONE. I'm holding off letting people know about my stuff IRL until I make an overall decision and it's killing me because they all keep saying when they see me, "I haven't heard anything about your graduate school applications. Oh, I guess you should have applied to ISU because acceptances are already completely out. Well, I know someone in biology and they already got three acceptances. So you might want to go to career fair if those other interviews don't pan out." Just a vent!

I know how that feels... I'm sooooo happy for you!

I'm so so excited for you!!! Congratulations on UPenn... I hope you go!

I agree with @peachypie... you aren't choosing potential PIs at all, even at small programs. That's what rotations are for because you have to mesh well on a personality level. If that's what you're looking for, you might be a tad disappointed when you get to grad school. Obviously you should have people you're interested in and may have met them in passing at a dinner or something. But to expect to have interviewed with them? It's a teensy bit closed minded to think that this is the way you choose grad school. What if they don't have funding next year or decide to teach more or go on sabbatical or are an awful mentor or decide to take their research in a direction you don't want to go in? My interviews include ~50% people I expressed interest in and others that are on the admin committee or are available or some other criteria.

Let's not freak out over clothing, AGAIN. Okay guys, business casual is the way to go for your interviews. This means your most versatile outfit (for either sex) will be a pair of dress pants or trousers, a shirt that is nice and put together (nice dress blouse for a girl, a collared shirt for a guy -- A guy could wear a less dressy collared dress shirt than the ones that go with suits... based on material or patterns), a girl could wear a small dress scarf, a guy could wear a tie. Both sexes could wear blazers (or sport coats for men) to the interview. Both should also wear comfortable dress shoes. Nothing too shiny or fancy, but COMFORTABLE. Casual days you could wear a dark pair of jeans or knit trouser pants or colored pants with a nice shirt, scarf, and jacket (for a girl). A guy could wear a pair of colored chinos with a sweater with a collared shirt. Boot-type shoes or less fancy actual shoes would work. I'm putting up these descriptions because I know that we all have limited clothing options for carrying and for buying new outfits. Really, don't stress. I've included some pictures so people can see what I mean. EDIT: these are ALL things seen on interviews. And everyone pretty much matched this code. It's obvious which are the casual outfits to me, but the last female picture is what seemed to be a "casual" outfit, and the same with the male pictures.

I would discuss it in relation to your future directions. This isn't a paper or a grant (HOPEFULLY) so feel free to talk about why this fits into your application profile. But if I'm wrong/uninformed, it may be best to ask a faculty member rather than some 22-year old typing away at her computer.

Dang this thread is old. I think that anyone posting on here with their profile to get their chances should focus on having a good application overall. What I'm trying to say is that you aren't guaranteed anything with certain scores. Not that they aren't important, but just that at the top schools, it can seem a bit like a crap shoot. I got interviews at Rockefeller, Princeton, university of Washington, and Vanderbilt with the same profile that got rejected from Harvard, UCSF, and Stanford.

And as long as you can see yourself there, you can't go wrong even if you have to choose between 2 awesome schools. But "fit" is the hardest to explain and the easiest to ignore if you're not careful. For instance, I know that maybe a super intense environment may not be the best for me (like work 80+ hours a week, every week, give up everything else in your life to do an experiment sort of intense) because I would without a doubt forego everything else in my life in order to gain results/make my PI happy. So I'm keeping that in mind, especially with Rockefeller that has a super intense environment reputation. But I won't be able to truly know until I show up there. It's about knowing yourself and being able to make decisions based on that.

I don't know about Infinito, but the grad students at Vandy were very open and helpful so I have some knowledge I accrued about how to decide. Obviously you look at the science. Core facilities, funding, type of research. Then the grad students said that for them, the attitude of the program was important. Did the professors, grad students, and admin seem excited to talk to you? Did they believe in the program? And finally, they all told me that it becomes obvious after you interview everywhere. That you have to see yourself in the community and the university. One girl said that interviewing students seem confused because they have like 7 - 10 interviews, but that if you are honest with yourself about the type of person you are, the right offer will feel like a fit.

I am like the rest of you, totally calm about the rest of the interviews. At the very least, I get to be at Vandy for 5- 6 years and that's not too terribly shabby. In fact, now all the other schools are competing with them to make an impression of wanting me to be there. I was in the middle of making travel arrangements for Princeton when I got the email... just a few short weeks until the interviews start up again. But congratulations to everyone who has offers! I know we all thought we'd be the people who applied and got in no where with no back up plans, but now at least we're going to grad school. And for those of you who haven't gone to interviews yet, it is very different than a job interview. They are really trying to convince you that their program is a fit for you and it's super casual!

I just have to share this with someone... Accepted at Vanderbilt!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OMG so excited. I love that they do rolling acceptances because now all the other schools are competing to wow me as much as Vandy did. Amazing school. I'M GOING TO GRAD SCHOOL

Just got the official UCSF BMS rejection while on the way to another interview. Lol, the irony!

Ah. Then I guess they'll get to the rest of us relatively soon!

Did they get back to you after you took the questionnaire? (And what did you put for your "Friday night activities"??? I almost died laughing when I saw them. Comedy club and dessert bar all the way. )

I'm free both weekends, but I put that I preferred the Feb 27 - 29 weekend. They haven't gotten back to me yet. If I get that date, I'll be interviewing three weekends in a row which already sounds exhausting.

5 is a huge amount! I almost don't envy her the traveling and scheduling! But she has some really great options, I know, and will end up somewhere spectacular. Hopefully we all will.

Thank you! I hope your daughter got an invite if she's still interested!

Immunology/Virology/Microbiology, Cell and Molecular Biology, and Stem Cells/Developmental Biology. What about you?