j118

I just got an invite for interview from Brandeis yesterday. It seems like they are still sending invites.

I haven't heard back from MIT BCS yet either, systems track.

Seeing all these interviews and haven't gotten a single one yet makes me super nervous and depressed at the same time ?. This is my second time applying and I seriously don't know if I can take another year of all rejections ?

Do you guys write back after being waitlisted/rejected? I want to know what to improve on but I'm not sure if asking them is a bad idea. Any advice on whether there's anything we can do while waiting after being waitlisted? I wish I applied to more than 3 schools. My POI basically said he wasn't surprised I didn't get into the other schools because I don't have a neuroscience/bio background (I come from an engineering background), but MIT appreciates my background (but clearly not enough since I got waitlisted).

Guess it's a generic email after all. Thanks for confirming.

"The faculty who reviewed your application and met you during the interviews were most impressed with your achievements and your research potential. While you are clearly qualified for the BCS PhD program, due to limited capacity you have been placed on the waiting list for the class starting in September 2021. "

Me too I wonder what our chances are for making it off the waitlist. My email seems customized/not generic though. But I could be wrong.

IDM Alum here. Congrats to those who made it and good luck to everyone else! Feel free to PM me for any questions.

I wonder when MIT BCS said we will hear back by today, did they mean people who got in or everybody (admitted, waitlisted, and rejected)?

Anyone heard back from MIT BCS yet? the anticipation is killing me.

Thanks MyCortisolLevelsRVeryHigh, I just noticed your user name and mine are very high too, haha. I just got a response to my own question today and no, it's not handpicked by individual faculty. I have no idea how the process works but it's pretty complex apparently...

Do you guys write thank you letters to all the faculty after an interview? Also, do you guys know if MIT BCS admission is handpicked by individual faculty? Or decided as a team?

Good to know. Thanks! Do you usually know who you are matched with right away so you can prepare? Or do you have to wait until interview weekend to find out? Also, is it ok to RSVP to the interview 1 day late? I think I need more time to research what other 5 PIs to put on my list.

For my interview invite, they asked me to list up to 8 profs I would like to meet (ranked by preference). I only have three. Should I research and list more? Or should I focus on the three?

Thanks Eusebius. I was confused by why they called it "Interview Weekend" if neither Thursday nor Friday are the weekend.

For those wondering, I got my interview invite for MIT about 20 min ago, whereas some others seemed to have got them about 3 hours ago according to the timestamps, so I don't think they sent them out all at once.

For those that got the MIT interview, do you know if interview weekend is a separate event than the interviews on Thursday/Friday? (I'm new to this and I am not really familiar with the concept of an interview weekend)

Thanks snowbabyjia. I hope so. Good luck to you! I think they have like 600 applicants per year and about 50 get selected for interviews, so it's great that you got to be one of the 50!

Snowbabyjia congrats! Did you get it just now? There were some that got interview invites a couple of hours ago so im trying to determine if they are sending them out one by one or in a mass email/automated by a system.

All the people that got interviews are Americans. Anyone know if Harvard put international students in a separate pile?

Looks like Harvard just sent out invites. Not sure if they are all sent out at once in a mass email but I didn't get any :(. I guess I can assume I got rejected? I spoke to multiple faculty that were very impressed with my background and wanted me onboard though. One even scheduled a call to discuss what PhD projects he wanted me to do.

Any news on Harvard PiN? Anyone know whether the interview invitations are going to be sent out on time this year?

Super helpful. Thank you!

Hello everyone, I wanted some advise on whether I should pursue a neuroscience PhD at MIT given that I have no background in neuroscience. I'm mainly interested in solving problems on brain diseases and wanted a degree in neuroscience to complement my engineering background for my career. My background: I have three degrees in electrical/mechanical engineering (a bachelors, plus MIT two master's degrees). GPA: not the greatest undergrad GPA (below 3.0/4.0) but much better grad school GPA (4.8/5.0). My hesitations: no neuroscience background, no papers published in the area (obviously), and my undergrad GPA was much less than ideal What might help: I already have a couple of degrees at MIT, my GPA was much better in grad school, and I worked at several neuroscience labs part-time for about 3 years during my time as a student here, mostly learning the basics like how to run brain scans, dissecting mice and imaging their brains, etc. I also have a couple of bioengineering papers coming out soon (no bio background, just got lucky with an opportunity that needed my engineering skills). I'm also hoping to use my engineering degrees and years of industry engineering experience as leverage as most neurosci labs I worked in were eager to have me there because of my engineering skills. So, given the info, do you think I have a shot at a PhD in neuroscience? Or should I even bother? I'm thinking of applying to MIT (and maybe Harvard). If you think I should apply, do you have any suggestions on how I can make my application look stronger (what to focus on in my essay, test scores to aim for in my GRE, etc.). Thanks in advance!

Cool, thanks for the info, talkcherty2me!