Bioenchilada

I wouldn't do anything about it, it's not going to be a game changer.

Some schools gave me freedom to choose (Dartmouth), others chose for me (Penn).

Actually, Immunology is within BGS but not within CAMB. Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics (BMB) is also not in CAMB, but within BGS. I don't know how those two operate. And, within CAMB, different divisions might send invites earlier or later. I would expect to hear by next week though, if the process works like last year.

Did you get rejected post-interview?

I think you have a pretty good shot! (Assuming that your rec letters and SOP are great)

From UPenn public google calendar, "Long PhD Admissions Committee Meeting" is on the 13th. (The same day as the Holiday party lol) Anyone could have found this, but just putting it out there... lol

Hope that some of you guys hear back this week

I definitely think a PREP program will help you out a lot, if you don't get in. An NIH job would also work! You have to keep in mind that a lot of PREP programs are for underrepresented minorities though Edit: Actually, I think all the PREP programs through the NIH are for minorities.

I think your numbers are good, but I agree with the people above with respect to adding more schools and the utility of the art professor's LOR. Though I think you should at least get 1 interview, I think that you really don't have a lot of research experience-- a summer of full time and 4 months of part time prior to submitting your apps. Nevertheless, as I said above, you should be fine with the schools you applied to as long as you wrote a good SOP.

They were speaking on behalf of the department for an interview. It was also like 8pm, so you could be contacted after business hours.

Yeah haha December 9th. It was for MCB, and I was contacted by a professor.

The 15th. The earliest that I heard back from a school was the 9th, and it was Dartmouth.

I've seen a lot of people that assumed that they were on a waitlist because they had not been contacted for an interview, but these rarely exist pre-interview. Even post-interview, formal or informal waitlists are not super common. Formal rejections are sent after everyone has interviewed, typically, even if you didn't get invited. I believe most schools send them.

Unless your school sends invites in batches, you can assume that you got rejected if you don't get an invite when everyone else does. I knew that I got rejected from Harvard the 17th-ish because I knew that BBS had sent out invites, though they rejected me on March.

All of my schools but Stanford sent invites before Christmas. They send them the first/second week of January.

You should state how you got interested in your research,talk about the projects you were involved with and the impact it had on your interests without getting too technical (no one cares about the techniques you learned if you cant put it into context), why you want to go to graduate school and how it will help you achieve your career goals, and why you're interested in X school/program.

If you apply to PhD programs, make sure you don't apply to a particular school because there's one person you want to work with. The number should be at least 5 because interests can change in 5 years, or the faculty member can just leave. Also, adcoms look for much more things than just faculty matching when reviewing apps and looking over your SOP. Working in the NIH will diversify your research experience and allow you to network with other people, besides adding a good rec letter to your package from a PI. It is worthy of mention that a lot of the positions are for 2 years, so make sure you can apply for Fall 2018 if you get an RA job.

I think having a 3.5 GPA would put you in a good position for PhD admissions, especially combined with a high GRE. Getting a master's is only really useful is you want to increase your GPA. I suggest you just try to get a job with the NIH, which you're competitive for, especially with previous experience. Extracurriculars don't matter for your PhD, unless research related. Is there a reason why you would prefer to go to school in Canada? Also... "The primary goal of the training program offered by the Neuroscience Graduate Group (NGG) is to develop first-rate scientists who excel in neuroscience research. The NGG program offers a PhD degree either alone or as part of a Combined Degree (CD) in tandem with either an MD or VMD degree. The NGG does not have a Master of Science (MS) program and does not admit students who wish to obtain an MS degree. MS degrees are not ordinarily awarded at an intermediary point in the program. However, if a student leaves the program for compelling personal reasons or is asked to leave the program, the Academic Review Committee (ARC) may consider awarding a terminal MS degree, but only if the student: i) has completed two years of coursework and laboratory rotations, ii) is in good academic standing, and iii) has passed the Candidacy Exam."

Also, I am fairly sure that UPenn does not offer a neuroscience master's through BGS.

What do you want to do with a master's?

I can take a look at it

You have 3 years of research experience and strong lors. Grad schools care about you have done and what you can bring to the program, so your SOP is key. Your GPA and GRE are not great, but I think they're good enough to get you an offer granted that the rest of your application package is great.

Lol do you honestly think that most people at top schools have first author pubs? I think rec letters are enough proof of a candidate being committed and productive.

I honestly think that this person covered their based with the schools they intend to apply to. Their GPA is not bad enough to warrant a 50k+ investment on a Master's, and they seem to have good research experience.

Not really. Using bullet points is not an acceptable format for writing an essay. Look for a way to make your explanations more concise.