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I spent a lot my time lurking on this forum, but I've finally decided to post my stats hoping that they will be helpful to future applicants, especially those of us that have to deal with some of the disadvantages that accompany being international. 
 
 
Undergrad Institution: Big Ten
Major(s): Molecular and Cellular Biology, Honors Concentration
GPA in Major: 3.98
Overall GPA: 3.99
Position in Class: Approximately top 1%
Type of Student: International

GRE Scores (revised/old version):
Q: 170
V: 165
W: 4.5
B: N/A

Research Experience: 3 years in a lab at my home institution, including 3 full summers. Presented at a couple of conferences, but they were both undergraduate specific, and thus far I have not been published. 

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: A couple of research awards from my home department, another research award from an honors program, and a couple of other awards for academic performance and such. 

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Volunteered quite extensively with various MCB related and unrelated activities, including things such as undergraduate research workshops, tutoring sessions, and even some humanitarian work.  

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Part of three different honors programs on campus, the most selective of which admits about 2% of the incoming class. This means that one of the most common letters on my transcript is an H, which stands for honors. Don't know how much of a difference this makes though.

Special Bonus Points: A handful of graduate level courses, and one of my letters was from a professor who taught one of those courses. The reason I mention it, is because I have a feeling his letter made a significant difference to my application. 
Applied (9):
 
MIT Biology (Interviewed, Waitlisted, Accepted) 
 
UW Madison MDTP (Interviewed, Accepted) 
 
Yale BBS Microbiology (Interviewed, Assumed Rejected)
 
Columbia University Medical School- CMBS (Interviewed, Rejected)
 
Stanford Genetics (Rejected)
 
Duke MGM (Interviewed, Accepted)
 
WUSTL MCB (Interviewed, Accepted)
 
UW Seattle Microbiology (Invited for an interview but I couldn't make it due to scheduling conflicts)
 
UPitt IBGP (Rejected)
 
 
Advice for future applicants: I'd like to address what I consider to be a few key points below.
 
 
Grades/Scores/All the numbers
 
Although my GPA and GRE scores are relatively high (excusing of course the writing score ony my GRE), I don't believe they got me into any schools I wouldn't have gotten into otherwise. Several faculty members I met with during the interviews specifically told me that those numbers aren't given too much importance beyond a certain level. Under most circumstances, nobody should feel the need to get above a 90th percentile on the GRE or 3.90 GPA on a 4.0 scale. I have seen several students with much lower scores be just as successful as me, if not more so. A number that could make a significant difference however, is the number of publications you have. Several good publications can often compensate for even extremely low GPAs. 
 
 
Research Experience
 
I am sure most applicants know this already, but this is by far the most important aspect of your application and both quality and quantity are often necessary. As to the debate between spending several years in a single lab without interruption, or trying to squeeze in as many REUs as possible, I prefer the former. However, over the past few months I have learned that it might be most attractive for one to spend regular semesters or quarters at a lab in your home institution over an extended period of time, and do a couple of REUs over the summers. 
 
 
Letters of Recommendation
 
These are up there with your research experience. I had one from my PI, one from a professor who taught me a graduate level course, and one from an instructor/academic advisor/honors coordinator who I worked closely with all through undergrad. I had been warned that the recommendations my PI writes are often extremely dry and they often don't read very well (English is not his first language), and so I sought out people who were much more likely to be passionate about my future and would be able to convey that effectively in a letter. Some would suggest that it is best to have at least 2 letters from research supervisors for a competitive application, and so I made sure that all the people I recruited letters from would be able to comment on my research experience and graduate school potential in a significant manner. I had discussed my research extensively with both these people, and it might have helped that they saw me at my bench all the time as they passed by on a regular basis for the past few years. 
 
 
Statement of Purpose
 
Although important, I don't believe it needs to be extensive as long as you satisfy the basic criteria. Typically that involves talking about your research experience, motivation to continue to do science and potential future research interests, and choice of graduate school (including names of faculty members you are interested in working with). Mine was rather short, but I made sure it covered all the bases, although it was the least fun part of the application cycle for me. 
 
 
Deciding where to apply
 
A lot of the admissions process cannot be quantified, and what I mean by that is that it is highly unlikely that you will be able to logically come to a precise conclusion regarding which schools you are going to apply to. However, there are several constraints that can be applied, and that will make this task much easier. I believe the most important factor is fit. If you are already aware of the kind of research that interests you, obviously make sure that the programs you apply to are strong in that area, but also make sure you have the freedom to explore new areas of research. Just because the specific program or track to apply to is part of a bigger umbrella program or division doesn't necessarily mean you have access to faculty outside of the program/track you've picked. After fit, the two most important factors I think are location, and prestige. And when I say prestige I'm referring to the program, not the school itself, there is sometimes a significant difference. Prestige becomes important if as an international student you want to keep the option of going abroad after your PhD open. After fit, location, and prestige, I think the focus should be on program structure, stipend, and any other constraints you can come up with. 
 
 
Interviews
 
Terribly exciting, so much fun, and once in a lifetime opportunities that need to be taken advantage of. These are often just as much of an interview weekend as much a recruitment weekend, and I would suggest going to as many as you can. After 4-5 interviews it can get exhausting, but it is definitely worth it. My impressions of several schools changed drastically after I visited, and that has helped me a great deal in making my final decision. Talk to as many people as you can, faculty, graduate students, administrative staff, and other recruits. One typically doesn't have to prepare much for these. Just make sure you can confidently talk about your research, whether it's a short summary to be delivered in 10 seconds, or a 30 minute description. And also make sure you can answer questions regarding your work (Shouldn't be much of a problem if you've worked on your projects for an extended period of time). Also, I know some schools only admit 40-50% of the students they interview, but that should not be something to worry about during the interview weekend, it won't help. 
 
 
Post-interview
 
Some schools take forever to get back to you (Yale Microbiology still hasn't gotten back to me), and others will send you an email on your way back from the interview weekend. Try not to spend hours of your days refreshing your email or stalking GradCafe because it won't really help you hear back any sooner. In my opinion, you will never really know what your PhD experience is going to be like at any given institution unless you spend a few years there actually doing your PhD. And keeping in mind what I said earlier about how it's nearly impossible to precisely quantify your experiences and determine which school would be the best fit for you, it might be best to simply talk through your decision making process with others who could be of help, including PIs, other professors, and anybody who either has a PhD in the sciences or is working towards one. Family and friends can be helpful too if you think out loud with them there to help you figure out what you really want.
 
Lastly, international students need to keep in mind that for a large number of programs, being international does mean that your chances of admission are lower. Although sometimes it might not make much of a difference, at times it could mean that while a school accepts nearly all the domestic students who interviewed, they might not have the funds to offer admission to many of the international students. (Sometimes as low as 1 out of 4 students who interviewed on site)
 
Based on several of the factors mentioned above I have decided to accept my offer at MIT Biology. UW Madison-MDTP was my second favorite amongst all the programs I visited.
 
 
I hope this post is helpful for future applicants, and I would be happy to answer any other questions that might come up (specifically for international students). Just send me a personal message. 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Very true!  Here are my experiences:
First Interview Weekend (Top 20 Program):
I read 2-4 papers for each of the 5 interviewers.  I   We barely touched on current science, let alone their work. We spent the majority of the 30min talking about my past research (very general except for 1-2 detailed questions) and getting horribly sidetracked.  I ended up talking with one interviewer about the morality and game theory (totally not either of our fields) but a mutual interest.  Overall, I was not asked a single expected question like, "why a PhD?" or "why University of XXX?"  I was accepted about a week later 
Second Interview Weekend (Top 10 Program):
My second interview experience was very similar, i.e. I read 2-4 papers per interviewer.  However, this school only gave you the faculty list when you arrived on campus.  I only got 2/8 chosen faculty so reading the majority of those papers was a waste of time.  A few more pointed questions about my current research but nothing difficult or unfair.  I was asked a few common interview questions like: "Why a PhD?" "Why immunology" "How do you feel about industry or academia?"  Please note that all of these questions were asked by one interviewer.  4/5 did not ask me any related questions.  Again, one interview was spent talking about history & linguistics for 90% of the 30min.  Acceptance pending for this school.
Third Interview Weekend (Top 15 Program):
I'm interviewing again on Friday and will prepare as usual just in case this school is different.  One of the interviewers is a friend of and colleague in the same field as my PI.  That means he will either 1) question me intensely to see if I know my stuff or 2) assume I know my field and spend the 30min talking about baseball or restaurants   I'm still going to read the papers as usual but not as in-depth as my first time.  
Based on my experiences so far I recommend the following:
1 - Know a little about each interviewer if you are given the list in advance.  Don't go crazy with this as it rarely comes up.
2 - Read 1-2 papers and/or abstracts just in case questions arise, which is highly doubtful in my experience.  If not, you can possibly toss out a reference during your discussion for brownie points.
3 - Know the answers to common interview questions just in case you are asked.  You can find good questions by searching "biomedical grad school interview questions" etc. or asking your PIs/professors.  
4 - If you don't know an answer, don't bluff or panic!  Just say that you aren't sure, resort to 1st principles and come up with an answer or quenswer (a quenswer is a word I thought I just invented but I'm wrong).  Quenswers are gold in all aspects of life.  Showing you can do that under pressure will go a long way.  This happened when a very intimidating (on paper he was really warm/friendly in person) PI asked me a question about one of my current projects.  I didn't know the answer because it's not something I work on directly (our core facility does this aspect).  Take a 3-5 second pause and think through the unknown out loud.  Even if you are wrong, coming up with a reasonable answer under pressure is a good sign.  I was also asked if I had any experience with a certain technique.  I don't but spoke about how I'm familiar with it in theory and can learn it quickly in my current position by working with a post-doc for a day or two.  It's OK to be wrong/ignorant if you are proactive and intelligent in your answer.  There is some recent psychology work out there discussing the importance of vulnerability during 1st impressions/interviews.  Regardless of your views on psychology studies, I tend to agree with this idea and think showing some vulnerability is a good thing.
5 - Adjust to the interview based on your gut instinct.  For example, the interview where I discussed history for 90% of the time was awesome but I regretted not learning more about the PI.  He is very famous for some pioneering work but I wasn't able to ask any of the questions I had prepared for him.  However, it didn't feel natural to try and shift the conversation back to science so I just went with it.  I asked my current PIs if it's "bad" to not talk about science during an interview.  They both said it was a good sign.  According to their viewpoints, this shows that the PI/school is not worried about vetting you further and just want to focus on learning more about you.  I'm still worried that my lack of scientific discourse could hurt me but I think this is unfounded.  Who knows?  Maybe these PIs are happier discussing irrelevant topics?  Who wants to spend an entire day fielding the same questions from fawning applicants?  I know I certainly wouldn't enjoy answering the same stock questions 5x/day for multiple interview weekends 
6 - If you are really nervous etc. I find it helps to remember this: you are interviewing them as well.  During the interview, pretend that you are the PI and the interviewer is the applicant.  Trust me that it helps.
7 -  Relax!  This isn't an oral exam (so far let's hope it stays that way for me ha ha ha!).  Be yourself and believe in the stars.
8 - HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT THE PROGRAM/SCHOOL IF ASKED!!!  This is very important to show you care and are inquisitive.  I tend to ask challenging questions like "what is the biggest weakness of the program?"  or "what do you like most and least about the research environment here?"  I made up another question that I'll try out on Friday.  

It's officially Februgatory now. I'm making it a thing, curtosy of The Interdisciplinarian.
And herbal blends sound good. Do tell us if it works. 

No word yesterday, thus I am in Day Two of what I have now termed Februgatory, the purgatory of February waiting on my acceptance or denial. Thank goodness for the groundhog predicting an early spring. Congrats to everybody getting good news!!!
For my Februgatory waiting today, I shall be trying to figure out what the heck is wrong with the iTunes player on my phone, avoiding caffeine, and writing angsty poetry.

WE DID IT, KIDS!
I just finished applying to all of my programs! Only took 6 months.
I'm trying not to put the cart way ahead of the horse but it's so hard not to. I've been mentally living in all of these places for months. I think that's the problem with applying to universities that you actually want to go to--you can only pick one. I've been upset because all of the people I've spoken to have been nice. My professor said "of course they're going to be nice, they're trying to court you!" but it makes it so much harder. I'm supposed to find out about another acceptance/rejection today, so we'll see.
Also, here are my dogs Mumford and Sun. We adopted them two years ago.

If anyone actually cares: do NOT eat chocolate. 1) I just ruined my diet
2) I over did it (even though I didn't eat that much, but it turns out my stomach can't handle it) and ended up vomiting this morning. YEAH?
I repeat: DON'T DO IT!

I'm going to consciously ignore the legitimacy of that statement and use it to reinforce my desire to have chocolate.
But one question: what if my happiness level is zero? O.o

Hmm... as a future doctor I can say it should rise your happiness level by 23% for each 10grams. (You should really not trust me with medical decisions yet...)

I suspect Duke will be out on Monday. Other than last year they have been fairly consistent with the 31st of January/1st February notices.
I also spoke to a PhD student close to the process at Vanderbilt, and seems as far as interviews we should know by the end of next week. I'm also thinking Berkeley will be next week as well.
So I suspect this time next week there will be a few broken hearts and some people over the moon.

Just to update you on my "one of those" day: my phone decided it would have a tantrum while I was cooking dinner and just froze, wouldn't turn off, wouldn't factory reset, nada. But I let it drain out and now it works again.
But then things started to get better I found a game I love on my ipad (well I found that I had an ipad which I'd conveniently forgotten about), and I'm under on my food today so I get to eat sweeties! And I found some whisky!!! So now I have a hot toddy and Lord of the Rings (book version). I also have a meeting with a professor who I really respect tomorrow as I sent him an email basically freaking out about the mean boy (for lack of a better phrase) and the professor is super concerned for me. So meeting tomorrow. Steps in the right direction! Thank you all for being so awesome! 
 
Now, Fuzzy (@Pink Fuzzy Bunny), why'd you have to go mention that?!?! I have my USC interview on Tuesday, and the on campus interview was on Friday and I'm the last person they're talking to before they go into the ad-coms room and decide who to accept/reject. No pressure  
My status for Florida has changed to "the admissions process is decentralized to have more faculty involvement. Contact your department for information" which is entirely unhelpful. My delaware application is unchanged and I'm fully expecting a rejection from them and PENN STATE I haven't heard anything from so JUST LET ME KNOW ALREADY....(nope not frustrated, not at all).
The boy moved back to California yesterday and keeps sending me photos of him with burritos and tacos and surf and beaches and all my favourite places and it's not fair i want to be there rather than getting drowned in the rain!

Well, guys... tomorrow begins the month of February. Just think, for most of us, it will all be decided in a month.
Just that thought alone makes me want to vomit.

Hi all,
I have created a thread for international students who have an interview date, acceptance letters or rejection and may be waitlisted...???? You can post your progress...thanks...