lord_dracarys

Got accepted off the wait list by Northwestern DGP and since that was my first choice I'm going to accept their offer and decline my other offers at Pitt (IBGP), Madison, and UMD-College Park tonight.

I think it's considered polite/professional to send them a short email, so I've written a template letter of sorts. You don't need to say much really other than a more verbose "thanks but no thanks" based on what I've seen others write on the topic.

Depending on the school many of them will give you rough estimates of how many students they accept on average on their program website. However, if you can't find it then I don't see why it would be frowned upon to ask how many students they expect to take. I don't think there's anything wrong with asking how many people are on the wait list and your position on it. I imagine most coordinators expect to be asked that sort of thing by people placed on wait lists. The one coordinator I sent a similar email to was very open about what they knew. In the end I think it comes down to just making sure you're polite in the email you send.

I think its fair to ask for a few more details like the length of the wait list and your position on it. I asked the Northwestern person a few more questions about the wait list and while they didn't have a ton more information to share they were able to give me the length of it and some information about how the wait list process works on their end (ranked, unranked, etc). I think as long as you word the email politely and tell them your interest is because the school is your first choice they'll be a bit more amenable to your inquiry.

Just waiting to see if I get off the wait list at Northwestern DGP and see what happens in Madison this weekend. Really hoping NW works out because its my first choice and would make the decision making process... simpler. Very glad that the end of the interviews themselves is approaching. Mostly because they're exhausting, but in large part because I can't really afford to miss much more school. Not sure how people do 5+ of these things.

Has anybody heard from any of the following at all? They're the only ones I have yet to hear anything back from. -Duke (MGM) -University of Chicago (BSD) -NYU Sackler

If you count chemistry research this year and the research tech position about 5 semesters worth, which is about 15-18 months worth. The PI's for my summer research (the research in one of their labs turned into my departmental honors thesis) would write LOR's and the head of the chemistry department at my school

Undergrad Institution: small lib arts school Major(s): Biology (BS), Chemistry (BA), History (BA) Minor(s): n/a GPA in Major: 3.7 Overall GPA: 3.6 Position in Class: n/a Type of Student: domestic, male GRE Scores (revised/old version): Q: 80th percentile V: 92nd percentile W: 75th percentile Research Experience: 1 summer at large state school lab through my schools collaborative research program doing plant pathology, 1 summer NSF REU at large state school doing genetics research, doing chemistry research at my school during this academic year Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Scholarships from all three departments I’m majoring in, dean’s list a few times, presented at regional and national conference, departmental honors (biology) Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Organic Chemistry TA, Cell Biology TA, Part-time Research Tech at large state school working in plant pathology Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: won a best in session award at regional conference, Special Bonus Points: Two well-known geneticist LORs (a good few hundred pubs between the two) Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Applying to Where: UW-Madison (REU was here) University of TX – Austin UM – Ann Arbor Boston University NYU University of Chicago Duke Yale Rockefeller University UM-College Park Northwestern Kind of curious what people think of my chances at these schools. Not really sure if I should aim differently or not.