Superres
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Posts posted by Superres
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On April 12, 2016 at 9:14 PM, Micecroscopy said:
I think it's good to branch out and go to a new place, for a variety of reasons! I'd probably go to Hopkins or Duke. I didn't interview at Duke, but I really liked Hopkins when I visited. It has some great faculty, including many young faculty that are at the perfect place in their careers to mentor graduate students. Also, I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss Baltimore!
Good luck with making a decisions. It sounds like you have a bunch of great options.
Thank you so much! I honestly do feel very fortunate. I just gotta commit to somewhere.
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On April 8, 2016 at 2:45 PM, NeuroMetro said:
I'm sorry about the fact that you have to reevaluate your options. That can't be easy at all. I'm struggling to decide if I should stay at my undergraduate institution (mostly because although I don't really have anything specific tying me down here, I really like the location), a more prestigious school with a ho-hum location, and a school where I really felt like I fit in and has several researchers whose research that I'm interested in, but doenst have some of the research techniques that I was really hoping to learn.
All of the schools have several labs that I'm interstated in and seem to have really great training.
If it makes it easier, I was planning on being vague, but I suppose it doesn't really matter at this point
Im trying to decide between Emory, Hopkins, and Duke (same order as described above)
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Anyone else STILL struggling to make a decision???
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Hey! Not sure if you've made a decision yet. I too am struggling with whether or not I should stay at my current academic institution because I really like the city itself or whether I should venture off for a change. I'm originally from Cambridge so I can speak a bit about living there. I think that there are many pros and cons. The public transpiration (the T) is really great and Boston is one of the few places that I think you can actually survive without a car. I can't speak for Stanford's campus, but what I do know about Harvard is that the labs can be really spread out. Some in Boston, some in Cambridge, and some even in Belmont, which may make the first couple of years a little difficult while taking classes. Also, if you're not a huge fan of the snow, you may want to consider staying in Cali. The winters can be pretty brutal. But then again that's only 3-5 months of the year....spending on how bad the winter is. I personally loved growing up in Cambridge though. It's a very diverse place and you can find a little bit of everything there.
I feel like you definitely can't go wrong with either places. But if you do want to experience living on the east coast, grad school may be a good time to do it, since you're only committed to 5-6 ish years.
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23 hours ago, Microburritology said:
Umm, NO.
Firstly, YMMV. That being said, I disagree with @Bioenchilada and @Superres on emailing PIs of interest at your prospective schools. Sure, you don't necessarily need to contact faculty in order to get an interview invitation, but you can, with the right email, get far more than just finding out "if they're taking students or not". I wrote extremely tailored, succinct emails to just 1-2 professors/program with whom I shared a very close research interest/fit (thanks to my work ex), and I got replies back with wordings like "I'll definitely keep a lookout for your application, would love to meet with you on xyz weekend".
In fact, I received interview invites from every program PIs of which I sent emails to, and didn't from where I didnt send emails to. Again, doesn't mean you necessarily need to contact faculty in order to get an interview invitation, but it really keeps you in the game if you're the kind of person with the research experience/background PIs looking for, and if your application were to be perceived unimpressive otherwise.
Totally agree with @bdnf_13.1 on the time writing such emails consumes - I would spend hours going over my email to bring it down to just 7-8 lines, to keep it really crisp and engaging enough to get a conversation going. I would strongly advise applicants to plan to put in a good amount of time and effort on this - it really pays off. I was, in fact, also guided by some on the 2016 forum to not do this, because "everyone else does it too" and "you wouldn't get much of a response". I couldn't be more thankful to god that I went ahead and did it anyway.
Okay, in all fairness, I didn't say NOT to do it. I just don't think that it's the MOST important thing, especially if you're applying to many schools. I also sent very detailed and succinct emails, referenced my interests/background and how they aligned with the POI's own research, etc. I also received a reply from all of them saying that they were looking froward to meeting me and to request to interview with them if I am invited to interview. So it may depend on whether the POIs you email are actually on the admissions committee.
I I personally think that LORs, research experience, SOP, and whether your research interests align with the goals of the prgram are the most important parts of the application, with coursework/grades and GRE scores being second.
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Go to the school where you can see yourself thriving for 5-6 years. Harvard has an amazing reputation, but so does UCSD. People have told me to make a list and rank the schools based on certain qualities that you think are important. If you tally up the numbers and are disappointed with the outcome, then you have your answer.
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2 hours ago, dinny said:
Still no word from UNC BBSP and virtually nothing on the survey... =[[[[ ugh!
I heard back a couple of days ago and got the official email this morning. Hopefully, you'll hear back soon!
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5 minutes ago, biochemgirl67 said:
Thank you guys! I'm so happy. Me a year ago couldn't even imagine feeling like I would want to turn down names like Princeton and Rockefeller for Vanderbilt, but I have no reservations. funding, fit, research, location, atmosphere, connections... for me, Vanderbilt has it all!
I couldn't agree more! For grad school, I feel like the "name" of the school is definitely not as important as the "fit". I'm primarily looking for programs where I can get great training! Not just learning cool techniques (though there is something to be said about using sexy new techniques), but learning how to think and troubleshoot like a scientist. At least, that's my plan.
I'm definitely also considering location and cost of living! 5-7 years is a good portion of my life and I want to enjoy it as much as possible.
- biochemgirl67 and biotechie
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9 minutes ago, biochemgirl67 said:
It's so weird, it happened so quickly. I got the text and next thing I knew, I was canceling the entire trip. I don't want to go to Rockefeller and I can tell by how relieved I am that I don't have to go and deal with it and try to seem interested. They are a great school but I just feel so comfortable about Vanderbilt and Nashville. AHHHHHHHHHH
Congrats! I'm with you and would totally take that as a sign to accept the offer from Vandy!
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8 hours ago, bdnf_13.1 said:
I applied to 12 and have 6 interviews (would have 7 if school #7 was willing to give me an alternate date but they could not), and I have to say that money aside, I don't regret it at all but I think I could have eliminated 2 of them before I applied. I have a broad range of interests and five of my schools were ivies- so REALISTICALLY I thought I had a shot at 7 of the 12 although I was fairly competitive for all of them (3.8 GPA, 2 publications, started doing research in high school), and one of my invites was at one of the schools I thought wouldn't be interested in me.
I was interested in ALL of the programs- I asked myself "If this is the only school I get into, will I be happy there science/life wise?" and didn't apply if the answer was "no." I only applied in the northeast and only to schools within an hour and a half of a major city, and made sure I could find 5+ POIs I liked at each. That said, I applied broadly ranking and size wise to give myself options, but this was not the first priority in choosing schools.
I emailed probably around 75 POIs last spring/summer/fall to get responses from 2-3 from each school to get a feel for the environment and chat about their research and I DID NOT email a single person I was not interested in working with. This was the most time consuming part of the application process so I suggest you START NOW- if you are lucky you will find a couple people on adcoms who will remember you!
Yes, I would have taken the 7th interview if I could have. Yes, I am exhausted, I have had one weekend WITHOUT an interview since the semester started and won't be done till after next week. But I have learned things on these interviews about myself, my future peers, the field I am going into, and even was able to rule a school out completely during the interview.
Also, I feel great in business casual and suits now instead of like a kid playing dress-up so that's a plus.I very much agree with a lot of this!! I had about 11 schools that I wanted to apply to on my list, but during the application process, I narrowed it down to 9 because when it came to the SOP I couldn't really think of a reason why I wanted to attend 3 of the schools (other than prestige--which alone is NOT a good reason). I got interview invitations from 7 out of the 9 and declined one of them because I was invited to a program that I didn't apply for. Essentially, i applied directly to the neuroscience program, but they thought I would be a better fit for the interdisciplinary graduate program, which I would be a part of for one year and then enter my program of choice (which would have been neuroscience...so u just a thought that it felt somewhat like I would be set back). I also probably would have at least interviewed if I didn't already have 6 other invitations. Anyway, I suggest that you don't apply to any school that you wouldn't want to interview at. I highly recommend giving every program a chance because I have been very pleasantly surprised at some of my interviews...and now I'm more confused than ever....but in some regard, this is a good problem to have.
Long story short, yes, interviews are exhausting, but they are also an amazing opportunity to meet people in your field and hear about some really cool research! Networking is so important in science!
the one thing I don't agree with is that I don't think you necessarily need to contact faculty in order to get an interview invitation. I could be wrong, but I didn't contact anyone at 3 of the schools for which I received an interview invitation, but I did contact POIs at the two schools that rejected me....just saying.
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On 2/4/2016 at 2:15 PM, mwgskol said:
Lol I'm on the same boat but I'm already half way there.... Hopefully I could just stay in the hotel today and get better for the interview. Did they offer you any alternative?
Yes, they were super accommodating and are letting me come in a couple of weeks. It's an umbrella program, so they will be having interviews, but may not have many other recruits with my interests. They did say that they would still try to put together a list of faculty with my interests though. I am very grateful!
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40 minutes ago, 123hardasABC said:
Is there an alternate interview day? I would call the administrator/coordinator and tell him/her that you're feeling ill. Unplanned situations like that happen; it would be unfair to penalize you over it.
They didn't offer one, but I'm going to call and see if there is an alternative.
It really sucks, but I can't even fathom getting on a plane right now.
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Has anyone gone on an interview when they were sick?
My flight leaves this evening, but I woke up feeling horrible. It may just be a bad head cold, but my sinuses are throbbing, nose running, etc.
Im not sure if I should just take some cold medicine, hope it helps, and suck it up.
Problem is that interviews have been exhausting when I haven't been sick and I have 5 more to go on after this one, so I really don't want to get worse....
I don't know what to do.
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2 hours ago, Earl said:
I'm committed to doing 7 interview weekends in a row as well, plus 1 Skype. It's a lot, but I'm excited about traveling to all those places and learning more about the schools/programs. I'll be exhausted probably by the end, but I feel it's worth it given all the work it's taken to get to this point.
Beyond that, I have another school that if I decide to interview at I'd have to do the back-to-back interview thing in a week (as you described), which I'm not sure I want to do. I'd have a long flight to get from one school to the other, and then once I land, I would have to go straight to the other school. I might be a zombie at that point, so I am thinking about asking for Skype if possible. If not, I think I'll have to cancel it.
1 hour ago, Bourbaki said:I also see it as a great opportunity to meet with PIs working in the specific field you're interested in. You can get some sense of the direction that things are going in, what kinds of approaches/projects people are working on next and most excited about. The PIs probably won't remember us, but it's nice to have a face and even a short conversation to match up to authors of some of the papers you'll read in the future.
Thank you both for the advice! I completely agree that this is a great opportunity to meet with people. I've talked to some graduate students that I know and they told me that the program they ended up at wasn't their top choice until they visited.
As for the back to back interviews in one week, the second interview is at my home institution, which I bet will be a lot easier than if I had to travel to two different places and then fly home.
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I'm not sure if this has been mentioned before on this thread (my apologies if it has), but does anyone have any experience with or is anyone planning on doing two interviews in one week? One of the programs that invited me for an interview is interviewing Wed-Fri (the actual interview day is Thursday and faculty dinner if Friday), while another program has interviews that same week Thurs-Sat, with the main interview day being on Friday. Would it be crazy for me to attend both interviews if I leave the first program Thursday night?
Also, on top of this, I've committed to doing 7 interviews in a row because I honestly want to keep an open mind (I applied to all of these programs because I truly could see myself at all of them)...but I feel like I will be extremely exhausted by the end....
If anyone has any thoughts or insight, I would GREATLY appreciate it!
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1 hour ago, Micecroscopy said:
Maybe we'll hear tomorrow!
I emailed UCSF earlier in the week and they said they would be sending out invites either at the end of this week or early next week!
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17 hours ago, Purkinje said:
For the people who got Duke, what were the circumstances of your invite? Call from POI or email?
Not sure if you're referring to the Cognitive Neuroscience or Neurobiology program, but I applied to the Neurobiology program. I just received an email, no phone call.
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4 hours ago, Ferroportin said:
For those that received TSRI invites to the California campus, have you already committed to an interview date? I'm hesitant since one of the dates overlaps with Stanford and we probably won't hear back until the deadline...
Don't we have to give them our dates by the 27th? I guess you could try emailing them to see if you could give them a decision later, but I bet they want to know so that they can send out another round of invitations.
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55 minutes ago, LWT said:
@Superres Where'd you get the info about Vandy NGP!? Appreciate it, give me a little hope!
Looking for some input. I was just promoted at work today for a product development scientist position and am wondering if I should contact every school to notify them of this? Should I email the admissions/program office? Call them? Send an updated CV/Resume to each school? Or would that be negligible at this point in the process?I sent an email to the director of graduate studies and he told me that the first round of invitations went out, but another round was likely to go out soon! I'm assuming after the holidays.
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5 hours ago, Micecroscopy said:
It looks like JHU started sending out results today. Interviews are February 16–19th.
haha ya I got an email today...if only I had waited a couple of hours, I could have answered my own question.
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Does anyone know when JHU neuro is planning on sending out invitations? I assume since no one has posted anything on the survey that they won't send anything out until January...but I know that last year invites were sent out around this time. Also, to anyone applying to UCSF neuro, I sent an email and they said that they won't be sending anything out until the first week of January.
Another note: Vanderbilt NGP sent out only one round of invitations. I think another round may go out after the holidays.
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4 hours ago, Liverbird_93 said:
Have all of the scripps invites gone out?
Also, does anyone know when the integrated program at Columbia will get back to us?I also thought that TSRI didn't send out invitations until January, but I got an invitation as well. Maybe they're sending out the invites in waves or it may be based on whether you were invited to interview at the Florida or California campus (or both). In the section where we had to list POIs, I listed only faculty at the La Jolla campus, so I was invited to interview at the California location.
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I got a call from NUIN yesterday and email today! I don't know for sure, but I have a feeling that they'll be sending out invitations in waves.
They have three interview options though (which is great)!
NUIN’s three admissions/recruiting events are scheduled for: January 14-15, January 28-29, and February 11-12.
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22 hours ago, Gvh said:
Anybody want to claim the Northwestern invites?
I got a call from NUIN this morning. I missed it and they didn't say when the interview dates were in their message, but supposedly sending a follow up email soon.
NSF GRFP 2016
in The Bank
Posted · Edited by Superres
Honestly, if I were you, I would take the NSF. You deserve it! I would go against your department's recommendation. I am an incoming graduate student and when talking to one of the directors of the program I will be entering in the fall, she told me that the graduate school would encourage me to accept the fellowship award right away. However, the graduate school covers my first two years anyway (not the PI). She basically told me not to listen to the graduate school's recommendation and wait two years.
However, I also see @Eigen 's point. It's better to be over-funded than to run out of money in case it takes you a little longer to graduate. But the extra $4,500 /yr would also be really nice!