miky

Just set up my new .edu e-mail account. It's been a fun application cycle. Good luck in your research endeavors fellow gradcafers~

Yes: http://thegradcafe.com/survey/index.php?q=ucsd+biological+sciences

No.

Y'all went above and beyond what I was asking, but it's definitely appreciated. I'm sure this will be a great resource for other interviewees.

For those who have been around the block and are now in grad school: what questions do you wish you would had asked at the interviews, either of your faculty interviewers or the grad students? Or alternatively, what were questions/answers that helped you make your decisions? I have a few questions pertinent to each of the program I'm visiting, but I think it would be really informative to get input from those who have successfully maneuvered the entire application process.

They have A LOT of interview weekends. I believe acceptances and rejections are extended fairly soon post-interview so they may be inviting more folks as they roll out the decisions.

http://www.thegradcafe.com/survey/index.php?q=harvard+oeb Someone posted that they received an e-mail invite on 12 Jan.

That's awesome, congrats!

Sounds legit to me! I've seen potential grad students mill around during interview weekend here and what they wear kind of runs the gamut (I once saw a dude in flip flops lol). I've seen people wear dresses, you'll be fine.

Apologies, I meant as in whether you receive an invite or a rejection. If you meant an invite after the first set (it seems like they send the majority of invites on the same day), I think I spotted at least one...

Based on the survey results you'll likely know yes or no by the end of this week.

1) You're probably fine with khakis and a button down or dark jeans and the button down. I wouldn't wear the henley (we're talking Dexter-tight henley?) for a first impression. It's probably fine for the last day. 2) Either option should be fine. Whichever makes you feel more comfortable. You can always take off the jacket. In my opinion, better to be overdressed than underdressed--it shows that you're taking this opportunity seriously. Good luck with your interview! Have fun!

Have you checked the survey page? http://www.thegradcafe.com/survey/ You can also see results from previous years to get an idea of when you'll hear back. For example, it looks like MIT Biology rejections usually follow the invites a week later.

I think your "hours" are dependent on a number of things including your lab atmosphere, your own work ethic, the demands of your project and your PI's expectations. I know some grad students who are in the lab 9AM-3PM, sometimes less than 5 days a week. I know others who spend at 80+ hours a week in lab, coming in during the weekend and holidays. Others self-enforce a 8-4/9-5 work schedule.

That's fine. People in my lab get requests for papers all the time.

Yep. A friend of mine submitted the same SOP to all his schools, changing only the school name and the POI names, or at least that's what he thought. He forgot to change the university name in one part of all his SOPs, including the one he submitted to Stanford. He still got an interview at Stanford.

This is not rude. Coordinators should understand the challenges of arranging travel on somewhat short notice for international applicants. An actual visit to the campus and in-person interviews are invaluable, but if it is not feasible they should accommodate you.

I got an MIT invite!

For the future: https://support.google.com/mail/answer/1284885?hl=en

If you look through the survey page and the previous profile/results threads the decisions usually come out during this time in January.. Also, on page 97:

Yes.

From the survey it seems like past interview invites were extended into February. I was sent a link to select a first and second choice for the interview dates. They had multiple dates, each one running from Thursday to Saturday, from January through March if memory serves correct, with a different combination of departments participating in each interview session. Friday is the day you meet with faculty. It is set up so that members from around four departments will participate on this day, but they assured me that if I couldn't get my preferred weekend due to whatever scheduling conflicts they would do their best to get faculty members from my department(s) of interest to participate.

If the professor is listed part of the faculty's program you most likely can work for them, provided they are accepting students. If you find someone's work interesting it never hurts to send them a message to see if they're taking students when you're hoping to enroll.

From the MIT site: All completed applications will be reviewed and invitations to interview will be sent via email mid-January. I think in the past invitations have gone out a few days before mid-Jan. Rejections seem to follow fairly closely.