breaker746

So happy the interviews and everything done but really torn between east coast and west coast -- none of the schools really made me go head over heels which is making the decision process tougher. I guess at the end of the day for most of us there are no "wrong" choices but for those who have to make tough choices what are some deciding factors you are/have used? I wonder how much I should weight: where I think I would have most fun, alignment of research interest, access to post-grad opportunities, where I'd want to settle long term among other things.

I had my first interview last weekend and though I didn't think it went amazingly well (one interviewer asked me about stuff I didn't know but probably should've related to my research), it still worked out. To prep just make sure you know your research very well and look up the most recent publications of the interviewers on Pub Med so you can ask them good questions. Main thing is to talk about your research in a way that makes it clear that you know where your works fits in to the bigger picture. They may also ask "why immunology" or why "Penn State". Then they'll talk about their research for a while (or ask them about it if they don't naturally) and then you're supposed to ask intelligent questions about it. At the end they'll ask if you have any questions for them at which point you can ask them what they think is great about the institution, ask about collaboration or ask more about their research. Overall it's extremely relaxed (I had no nervousness) and you may find that the profs are trying to sell the school to you. Good luck!

I did banking last summer, so was referring to that since that could've been my sad future (~80-100 hrs a week). Curious though, what are the typical hours for a grad student like?

I'm right at the cusp of a graduation honors and don't wanna miss out so I'm definitely a bit worried. I'm probably not gonna enjoy my senior year as much as I should. But at the same time I'm pretty sure there's a good amount of free time in grad school, so I'm not as concerned about cherishing my last few months of freedom as I would be if I were working full time next year

Have a question. I realized that I'm probably taking on too many interviews, and it seems like an exhausting and time consuming process. I'll hear back from one of my top choice schools by end of January and all of my interviews come afterwards, so if if things work out I'd be interested in cancelling 2-3 of them. How bad is it to cancel an interview 1) before making travel arrangements 2) after making travel arrangements (e.g. flight)? I would just feel really guilty doing so after the administrators and professors took the time to figure out scheduling, to arrange hotels, etc. but would be really be helpful for my own schedule

Just called the office for regular immunology (not microbio), she'll tell you readily whether you got invited or not based on first name (I got invited...so pumped, dream school). Look for the number under "program manager". Best of luck!

Yea...I'd kinda like to know too. Hopefully they're spreading it out over a couple days...

I need to reschedule mine as well-- person who called about the interview indicated that it was possible to arrange a separate weekend in March or something but I have yet to reschedule until I hear back from one more school.

I'm extremely confident that Stanford Immunology has not come out yet and that it will only start rolling out after Jan 4 -- the other home program was just odd timing especially given that they even indicated that in the e-mail. Take a few weeks to relax, which you deserve.

E-mail

Hey I heard back from Penn Pharmacology on Dec. 8th and interview is Jan 21 or Feb 4. Think they're done :/

UCSF dates are Jan 21 and Feb 11, but they recommend the Feb 11 weekend for immunology. Stay positive!

@Microburritology@biochemgirl67 Hey just wanted to say that I know it's definitely very tense times and by no means want to create any concern but wanted to confirm that I did in fact receive e-mails from UCSF BMS (I applied for immunology track) and Harvard Immunology today (interview weekend Jan 21). My sense though is that they generally send out the e-mails over the course of a couple days. I think someone got UCSF Immunology like a day or two before I did, so there's still hope! In the end always an element of randomness to this whole process.