katpillow

I've never had to make a school choice before. I only had one app in undergrad, and only got into one MS program last time I was applying. I more or less closed the door on one of my three options (on purpose). Now I'm looking at two, and both represent fairly different directions (engineering vs biological sciences). At this point I'm just going to write out all the pros/cons of each, maybe make some Venn diagrams, do a little dance, and hope that I have clearer vision of what I want. I really like my two choices, so at least that is a good problem to have.

That's great!

They've sent out some acceptances, but I know for a fact that they haven't sent them all out at once. Not very helpful, but hopefully you hear something good!

That’s great! Clearly the reception was positive

I don't know about @ChallengerSwimmer23, but I got an email invite from them earlier today for interviewing March 8-10. I haven't been able to catch any admissions stats or anything, so I'm not too keen on how many applicants attend or get admitted. There's three weekends, and I'm imagining anywhere between 15-30 students per weekend, but honestly who knows. I suppose I'll see when I'm there. Congrats on the invite, btw. I'm guessing we might be attending the same interview dates? As per which branches of the program I'm interested in, I had put: 1. immunology, 2. therapeutics, and 3. cancer biology

Anytime!

From what I've been able to find out from the department office, your batch of invites was likely the last one. Congrats on the invite!

Nice set of programs! It doesn't hurt to consider a few more apps if it's not too much of a cost burden. I can't remember if Northwestern's MS app period is past or not yet. I can personally recommend it- it's been good to me, and although I haven't taken advantage of them, there are several extra certificate programs (in areas like biotech or business) that you can complete while you do your coursework, at no extra cost (but it IS expensive to attend, overall). It stinks that a lot of MS decisions don't necessarily come out until later on, compared with PhD responses. Though I think I knew by late February about NU. Don't get too nervous, I think you have a good profile, and applying for MS programs with your numbers will result in some successes on your list. Good luck!!

I got an interview email from them yesterday. Several of my cohort have not yet gotten responses from them though, so there's a chance they are sending emails out on more than one day. I can ask someone in the office if they know anything about the status of this when I'm there tomorrow. Hopefully there are more to come!

Hello, friend. My take: 1) There is always the first thing people will often suggest: either maintain currently good grade trends, or finish strong and display a trajectory of improvement and good performance in the last semesters. It starts with the one you're currently in, obviously. Other things you can do would be to get additional experience dabbling in research projects, or asking professors to nominate you for academic awards at your university, etc. It sounds goofy to nominate oneself, but sometimes a lot of people with those nominations are those who express interest to their professors for eligibility in them, etc. It never hurts to try. Try to cement good relationships with your future rec writers, and be strategic about who they might be (i.e. if you're on good terms with a full professor who is well established and has reputation) 2) My answer for this ties to your #3 question a bit. For one, I don't think the MD is necessary. If anything, the MD should be combined with a more business oriented degree if you were thinking of going into the medical/scientific management consultant world, but even then, I'd personally be against the MD. It's an expensive and time consuming way to go about improving a career path in ways that could ultimately be marginal. There are many examples of successful people with the dual MD-MS, but it's a fair about of sacrifice and still a gamble that the job ends up being worth the effort (and cost!). That being said, looking for programs that might offer a dual MS-MBA or something similar might be more logical. Even then, you may only need the MS, and if it makes sense down the road, you can snag the MBA. You might even be able to put yourself into a position where the MBA is paid for by an employer, which is ideal. Unfortunately and fortunately, there's no right or wrong way to go about these things. There are plenty of examples of people who have gone different routes on these things, so I suggest trying to find some of them (linkedin, through school job fairs, speaking to potential employers, etc) 4) One of my best friends did this after undergrad, before he went on to do a biotech MS at Northwestern. He said it was one of the best decisions he ever made. At the time, he had been toying with dental school, but wasn't really sure if it was really what he wanted. He got a retail job and just roughed it for a year, and during that time he realized that he'd rather pursue a science oriented career related to (but not necessarily in) research. It helped him orient around what he's passionate about, and get a little more taste of real life, so to speak. Now he's working his way into project management after having worked in pharma research for 3 years or so. I personally got a job after I graduated with my BS, worked for a few years, and then solidified my feelings on what I wanted and needed to do to pursue the future I was most interested in. Since then, I've gone on to get my MS, and will (hopefully) soon be in the process of getting my PhD. Even during the course of this, my thoughts have continued to evolve. Don't think that any decisions are truly rigid. There will always be a chance to modify your path in life, and education is just one of the many different ways to go about it. There are many people that jump straight into grad school, and they have great careers from there on. Just keep thinking and exploring your feelings on this, and answers will come. If you're not positive about grad school, try not to jump into it. Being resolute and focused goes a long way. I hope this helped somehow!

At least UCSF/Berkeley is up front about the rejections. Drives me nuts when programs just send out interviews and then wait to deal with rejects.

Sorry I didn't see this before! I am at the tail end of my MS in BME at Northwestern now. Perhaps it might help give you some peace of mind to know what I applied to schools with: Undergrad GPA: 2.40, GRE: 159V, 161Q, 4.0. At the time I only had a co-author paper out there, with a poster and two patents. I had 3 years of industry research under my belt as well (which was my counter for my terrible GPA). Compared with what you've got, I think you'll have a good chance at acceptance a lot of places. Programs tend not to be nearly as hardline on master's applicants, so don't worry too much about not having a non-engineering BS. Some programs might ask you to take an extra math class or something, but usually they're like "well you're giving us money, so we don't care what you do, go for it!" May I ask which programs you applied to?

Who knows. In the history of the results there isn't a ton of variation on timing though...

Northwestern BME is 2/8-2/9, at least that's what they told us (I'm in the programs student organization) This looks like it should be a week where many of the invites are sent out, if prior years' data is a good indicator. Good luck to everyone!

I love this attitude. I agree completely. Set a high bar for yourself, be specific in your interests, and pursue the things you're passionate about. I feel like a lot of people who take a shot at a PhD are generally doing it for the love of it, in some way or another. Plenty do it just because they're smart and it just seems like a logical step, too... I admit that I'm aiming for the degree because of the benefits it'll give me in my research career, but only made the decision to shoot for it after working in the industry for a few years, and determined that I needed it to do the things I'm passionate about. Getting to do research that I think is awesome and neat on the way? That's a bonus.