lightcrx

Have you been to one of their visit weekends? One of my friends just went to the one at the end of March and the prof he interviewed with said he would get a response by Apr 1, but he hasn't gotten anything yet.

So I've finally gotten through interviews for bio(medical) engineering PhD. I've narrowed my choices down to 3 schools: Vanderbilt, Duke, and Berkeley, but I'm having a really tough time choosing one. There's a professor that I've worked with before at Vanderbilt. I really enjoyed working with him and his students. Incredibly smart PI, great work ethic, very driven, good sense of humor, very accessible and hands on. Just a really personable guy that was (generally) fun to be around and that reflected in the lab culture. I was able to do some pretty good work in my time with him. He's fairly young and not super established yet, but honestly I don't think I would've gotten into any of those schools without the work I did in his lab and his recommendation. Don't really have any strong feelings about the school itself or the city. Duke though...is Duke. Didn't really get to see too much of Durham, but I think it'll be fine. Plus their campus is really nice. The professor I'd be working with is a leader in his field, well funded, and has a fairly large lab and so is generally pretty hands off. His students seem like people that I'd be able to work with, but it's hard to know for sure from seeing them for a few hours. As for Berkeley, it's just a very prestigious school. However honestly, I wasn't a huge fan of their campus and the cost of living is pretty off putting. Plus the professor I'd be working with has his primary appointment outside of bioengineering. He does interesting work, and is fairly well established, but I just got a weird vibe when I was visiting the lab. I'm leaning towards Duke right now, but I feel like I'm standing at the top of a cliff trying to decide if I should jump or not. Vanderbilt is at the top of the cliff and holds a sense of familiarity and comfort. I know exactly what I'd be getting myself into and would likely be able to continue doing good work there. Then at the bottom of the cliff is Duke and Berkeley. Their prestige is appealing, yet it's pretty murky down there. Jumping off could be a great experience, but I have no idea what I'll find once I've gotten there. I've met the Duke group once before my interview at a conference, but honestly I have no idea how it would be like to work in a lab with such a drastically different mentoring style. Has anyone else found themselves in a similar situation? If so, how'd you decide where to go?

I actually just received an email from the prof I interviewed with that I've been recommended for admission and that I should be receiving an official offer soon. Right now, my application portal still says I've been rejected though.

I think Duke might be having some problems. A few other people and myself received rejection emails last week. However some of us are also going to the interview weekend this week. I asked the PI who invited me what's going on, and he said he had no idea. CWRU hasn't made any decisions yet. I have a few friends who have been pretty much guaranteed a spot and from what I've heard, the professors and department are still sorting through paperwork and forms.

I don't know anybody that's heard back from them. It's pretty frustrating and it would be nice to get some communication from them (e.g. you've been waitlisted) or something.

Got rejected by BU. Interviewing with Duke at the end of March so I imagine there's still a good amount of time to hear back from them.

Duke: March 23-25. There were earlier ones as well.

I applied to UCI. Haven't heard anything. A friend also applied and emailed a professor. From her it sounded like they don't have a formal interview process.

Just got an email about from Duke about interviewing towards the end of March, so don't give up yet! It's pretty late, but it's one of my top choices. I got an acceptance from them a few weeks ago. I interviewed there last week and got an acceptance. I asked a few other people from the visit and 3/5 got acceptances and the other 2 haven't heard anything yet. Would it be appropriate to ask schools that I haven't heard from yet for an update? For jobs, it seems to be pretty standard when waiting to let the prospective employer know if you got an offer with another company. Would it be appropriate to do so with grad school? I'm starting to run out of weekends and need to start more carefully planning what schools I want to visit/interview at.