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virionoftomorrow

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  • Location
    SF Bay Area
  • Application Season
    2017 Fall
  • Program
    Microbiology/Genetics

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  1. Don't pick Stanford just because you feel like you have to because its Stanford.
  2. I don't want to say anything too specific since I am on the opposite coast, but I will say this. Pay attention to your surroundings. Know where the unsafe neighborhoods are. Regardless of where you are, don't get completely absorbed in your phone walking down the street or on public transit. For the most part, if you walk with purpose and leave people alone, they will also leave you alone. I have lived in cities all my life and have never had anything really bad happen to me, so don't worry about being unsafe, just don't make yourself a target. As for day to day living things, thats going to be specific to your area. Housing markets in cities tend to be more competitive. Whereas in a lot of towns you can sign a lease in march for august (especially college towns) in most cities you don't sign until a few weeks/days before you move in. Depending on how far you're moving from that can be stressful. Look into whether having a car is worth it where you will be living. If the parking situation is a mess and there is available public transit, don't bother with the car. It can be more of a pain in the ass to pay for/find parking than any benefit you may get from having it. Try to find a neighborhood where you can walk to get to restaurants/groceries/etc. It makes life so much easier. Also keep in mind the effect that traffic has on commute times when you're looking at locations. I don't know if any of this is specific to cities so sorry if its obvious. As far as the day to day things you mention in your post I don't think its super different.
  3. Seriously, you got into three really great schools, why are you obsessing about your one rejection?
  4. I applied this year for microbiology, including overlap with some of the schools you listed. 1. I know you said you eliminated programs associated with the medical school, but for example University of Washington, Seattle has a lot of environmental micro and it sounds like it would be a great fit for you. I wouldn't worry about "renown" but do pay attention to the funding situation. For example, I interviewed this year at UGA micro, and while it was an enjoyable interview and a great program, a lot of the students had to TA every semester in order to get their stipend because their professor couldn't always afford them. That sounds like a huge headache that would just make the grad school experience more stressful. So be weary of that. 2. I was honest about not wanting to go into acadamia in my applications and during the interview process.I was advised by one of my PIs to not emphasize the fact that I had no interest in academia in my SOP, so I said I was pretty sure I wanted to go into industry but was still exploring my options. I do think the one school where I didn't get an interview might have been in part due to the fact that I said I was leaning away from academia, but its not one of the ones on your list. 3. Can the postdoc not collaborate with the lab PI on writing your letter? I think thats how its usually done in these situations. 4. Don't bother its a waste of money. I don't think any of the people I met on interviews had taken it.
  5. I would choose a mentor over a topic any day. I don't know about you but I know for a fact I can get excited about a lot of topics in science, especially in my subfield. Having a good advisor makes a huge impact on your day to day life so making sure that your advisor relates well to students and has time to mentor you is really important. Its much easier to develop interest/knowledge in a new area than it is to change your boss!
  6. So relieved to have finally made a decision. Accepted for a PhD in Genetics. Super excited about starting in the fall.
  7. Most of the time, the only reason you would be rejected by the graduate school is if you didn't meet some minimum requirement of theirs, and the minimum requirements are usually much less stringent than the selection criteria used during the application process. I know its not the same school, but after hearing from my department at UCSD it took about a week for me to hear from the graduate school, and they said I was rejected. After I contacted the department again to clarify, they told me my rejection was an error and about a week and a half after that I finally got an acceptance from them. So. Very unlikely to get rejected by the graduate school at this point, and furthermore, even if you are you probably aren't really rejected.
  8. Not a grad student but I work at UCSF right now, and most of the graduate students I know live in the sunset near the parnassus campus and take the shuttle to mission bay. The neighborhoods closest to the Mission Bay campus are either ridiculously expensive or not super pleasant/safe to live in. Especially above 19th theres a lot of shops and restaurants and such so its pretty easy to get by.
  9. <3 this thread. Not gonna lie, I feel intense jealousy when I hear some of my fellow interviewees talk about the European vacations they're gonna take before grad school and how great it was to study abroad, but I also feel proud that I was able to get to where I am from where I started. I just hope that the differences in experience between me and some of my peers won't make it impossible to connect with them. Graduate school is isolating enough as it is.
  10. I did not. I will say that when I did a summer REU, the program directors basically told us that having publications can help you but that not having them doesn't really hurt you at all.
  11. I also went to a meh cal state school and have similar stats (3.9+ GPA, 330+ GRE, about a year of research at a much better place than where I did my undergrad) and I was accepted everywhere I interviewed this year including UCSD and Stanford, though I wasn't applying in neuro. I think what helped me most is a really great letter from my PI, so as long as you have that, you should be fine.
  12. Just for the record, I don't think anyone goes into a PhD thinking they want to be a science journalist or a consultant. The reason these are emphasized so much in career type talks is because the majority of people still do go into it expecting to become professors, and many realize halfway through that that's not the best path for them or that it isn't even possible. I agree that its probably silly to get a PhD with an ultimate goal of not being a scientist, whether in industry or in acadamia, but I don't think that anyone actually does that. You can go into your PhD and want to learn to be a scientist without wanting to be a professor.
  13. I got accepted to Stanford for Genetics!! I thought for sure after the interview that I didn't stand a chance. Best day ever!
  14. Molecular Virology and Immunology. I did not accept, because I am still looking at a bunch of other programs. I will probably end up not attending though.
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