Extra Espresso

"After all, to the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure" - Dumby

Community is pretty awesome!

Thank you!!
I'm hardcore jealous, pterosaur! I'm hoping it's just that the professors I am interested in haven't contacted people. *crosses fingers* 
Either way, I've got less than two weeks before the other schools I am interested in start sending notifications, so hopefully good news is on the way!

I got an MIT BE invite two days ago (BEYOND EXCITED), so I can confirm that they have at least begun sending invites. 
Last year, I had a friend get an invite towards the end of January. I'm not sure what that means about this year's invites, though!

I just imagine someone calling in a fake voice and them being like "Ya... We know it's you. Stop calling." and then awkward pause till you hangup the phone. 

Looks like MIT BE invites went out last night. I see two people posted on the results page this morning.  Let me know if anyone here got one!

Yes, right before I received invites i had a flurry of confidential views.

For those waiting for news from MIT BE, word in the halls is that the interview invitations should be going out this week!  Good luck to everyone!

I just discovered a new first world problem... I got a phone call this morning with a caller ID that read St. Louis, MO. I had a mild panic attack thinking it was WashU. But then I remembered I live in St. Louis and it was just Walgreens calling to let me know my prescription is ready. I need a sedative now. 

Good thing I'm going to the pharmacy. 

Just a reminder for people to stop spamming and posting in succession. Just edit your previous post and use multiquote. No need to bump up your post count nor add more pages of text for people to read.

It was me! Yay! Haha.  

That was terrifying

Oh man ... the dreams have started. This happened two years ago when applying for Master's programs.
I'm a lucid dreamer, so most of the time I'm good at distinguishing if I'm dreaming ... Last night though, I had a dream where I got accepted to both of my December 1 deadline programs. One of them I was so unsure about because the fit wasn't *as* good as some of the other programs I applied to. In the dream though, I got a really sweet fellowship. I even said to my fiance in the dream "See, this isn't even a dream either!"
Hahahhahaha *cries*

my new year's resolution of drinking less during the week and the anxiety producing waiting period are conflicting and causing me problems

I think an hour away is far enough to justify a hotel. In not needing flights, you are already saving the school money anyways. Considering that interview days can start at 8am and there might be traffic driving to the campus, I think it's in your best interest to just stay at the hotel and save yourself some stress in the morning. 
For what it's worth - I live in SF and for my upcoming UC Berkeley interview I asked to stay in the hotel, which they had no problem with. 

I can't say the words "Pinot Noir" without thinking of Titus Andromedon....

Where you here during The Great GPA Debate?

That was my baseball number in high school.... So... I just kinda put it on everything.  

Glad you are doing something productive on this forum.

I'd say there is a good chance then that one or more very qualified applicants were in line behind you. By politely thanking this person, and declining, you likely just opened the door for someone else. No need to feel crappy. You're advancing your career, you have to prioritize, and that POI will have plenty of great recruits as well.

I remember feeling the exact same way this time last year. I had no confidence that I would get in any decently ranked school and was scared of having to figure out something to do with my life for a year if I didn't get in anywhere. That, coupled with some problems I was having with my then advisor, was really weighing me down. The anxiety/depression thing can get real during application season. It can really suck the motivation out of you. 
 But, just this morning I was walking through campus of the institution where I'm now a first year PhD and I just sat on a bench in the middle of campus and looked around. I started to tear up thinking about how glad I am to be here and how much happier I am now than last year this time during the emotional roller coaster of application season (and advisor probs). I thought, "wow, if I had only known how wonderful it all ended up being, I totally wouldn't have worried last year." However, I realize not everyone's story turns out perfect and I understand reapplying next year may be necessary. I know it's disheartening to think about (I definitely remember that feeling) but I think one thing that helped me was thinking of something/somewhere I might want to do/work at for a year that I wouldn't have the chance to ever do again once I started the PhD/academia rat race. That way I had something to (mildly) look forward to if applications didn't turn out well. 
All that to say, don't underestimate yourself if you think you have a reasonable chance of getting in to the places on your app list. The school I currently attend was a "reach" school for me (I daily question how I got in but that's a function of imposter syndrome, I think). But things worked out better than I hoped and I couldn't imagine wanting to be anywhere else right now. I hope that in a year from now, the same will be true for all of you and you can look back and think "why did I worry so much??" Cheers and best wishes!

I don't think you need to know exactly what question you want to research when you apply. My daughter is applying this cycle. She knows she wants to do genetics/genomics research in a lab, in academia or industry, and definitely not field research. She mentioned some general types of broad questions in her SoP, but nothing very specific. She was very honest that her interests are broad, and she is applying to umbrella programs so she can experience lab rotations and get a better feel for narrowing down the research she wants to do. 
She has a 3.98 GPA; 167 Q, 162 V, 5.0 W on the GRE; 3 years lab research at university; 2 summers research in industry at a genetics incubator; 4 different field research trips; won the major research award at her university; 3 first-author posters; one middle-author paper in review for a major publication. She has received first-round invites for 5 top-tier schools so far; waiting to hear from Stanford and Rockefeller in January.
She was able to put together a solid package indicating she knows what research is and exactly why she wants to do it for the rest of her life, even though she does not yet know exactly what she wants to research. She knows enough to know there's a lot she doesn't know and won't be able to learn until she's actually in grad school. 
I think it's okay not to know exactly what you want to research when you apply, if you put your application together directly.
 

I'm another molecular biologist that has a wide variety of interests. When I applied, I specified my interests as immunology and epigenetics as that's what I knew. However, I ultimately joined a lab that is in metabolism and doesn't do epigenetics at all. You do need to portray your interests such that you have obvious directionality. You want the adcom to see you as a student that can be successful but also as one that is fairly flexible. The problem with being interested in everything is that if you're not careful you can be viewed as unsure about your future or not committed to your graduate studies.
Most people can say, "I'm interested in cancer biology because I think transcriptional regulation is interesting." or "I believe that further understanding of epigenetics will yield new obesity treatments," because those are things they ARE interested in, but that doesn't mean it is all they are interested in. Most of us are very interested in several fields. I'll go to micro biome talks, but I don't work on the micro biome, etc. I'm very multidisciplinary in my own studies.
Umbrella or interdisciplinary programs might be of interest for you as they're going to have more different types of projects for you to choose from. Do NOT pick the first lab that is interesting to you. You need to pick for the whole package, the "good fit," which is: Good lab environment, good research mentor, a promising project, and a supportive program. If you get to application time during your senior year and you're still unsure about your own interests, it might be worth it to do a masters degree to prove to yourself that you want to do graduate school and it might help you see areas of science you're most interested in. I did a MS to prove I could do a PhD and that it was for me, though I already had a field of interest based on what I did as an undergrad (which I changed once I got to PhD), and I've been glad I did it through my whole PhD so far.
I say this over and over on these forums, but I don't think "safety schools" should be on your radar at all. You should apply to programs that you think you would be a good fit in. Don't pick simply based on rank (and in my personal opinion, you should throw rank out). You should be able to look at each program and think, "I could be happy if I went to school there." If not, and you get into a school you view as a "safety school," you'll never be happy there and it might hinder your success.

I had a Skype interview earlier this month, but it was more of a screening interview to decide who would be flown in for the actual interview in January. It wasn't very formal; it was mostly the professor telling me about the program. He didn't even ask me about my research, but he did ask me why I chose to apply. I also told him a little about my post-PhD career plans. The whole thing lasted ~40 minutes, but it probably would have gone longer if he didn't have a meeting to attend right after the interview. 
I'm sure you know this already, but be familiar with the program website, curriculum, style of rotations, types of research going on, etc. And write down 2 or more questions, because you will be asked if you have any questions. Going off of that, if a new question arises as the interviewer is speaking, feel free to ask as long as it's relevant to what the person just told you. If your 'interview' will be anything like mine was, it will feel more like a conversation than an interview. I've read the same thing from other people who did Skype interviews with professors. 
Anticipate technical difficulties with the Skype interview. For the first 2-3 minutes, my video wasn't showing up on his end, but he could hear me fine. Do a practice Skype call with a friend or relative to make sure you know the correct settings to choose/buttons to click, and to make sure the other person can see and hear you well. Wear a nice button down shirt, tucked into a nice pair of khakis/slacks (assuming you're a guy; if you're a girl, wear whatever girls wear for an interview). Some people think it's okay to wear jeans/sweats/whatever as bottoms for a Skype interview, but what if you need to stand up to adjust something? Also, looking good from head to toe will make you feel more confident, even if the other person doesn't see what you're wearing below the field of view. 
Good luck!

I sure hope not! I made the grievous mistake of mixing up bioengineering/biomedical engineering multiple times in my applications, and I am terrified it's the kiss of death. I'm also now second guessing EVERY SINGLE THING in all of my applications. Did I structure my SOP okay? Did my personality come through? Was it too much like just listing my CV? Did I apply to the right schools? Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!! 

I'm gonna stop you on your third to last sentence because schools definitely do not weigh that as much against people as you're making it out to be. Harvard, especially, has the money to fly people out and cares about quality for their incoming class - not where else you're applying to. 
Also, the cost to fly to Boston from California can literally be cheaper than flying someone from NYC to Boston. 
But, yes, I also haven't gotten an interview from Harvard BBS, but I'm quite content with the other 8 that I have thus far. @cliu while you can hold out for that Harvard one, just concentrate on your actual interview invites as well, if not more. 

I've been unable to find any information about the number of invites offered for 7 different schools. For some I've found # of apps, # of offers, and # of admissions, but no info at all about # of invites.
For example, last year for Duke's GMB program, there were 200 total apps, 47 offers, and 18 acceptances. For Vandy's IGP, 1,010 average apps and 74 enrolled. UCLA GPB, 1,000 apps and 70 enrolled. UNC Chapel Hill, 1,000 apps and 90 enrolled.