BabyScientist
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Posts posted by BabyScientist
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1 hour ago, maya123z said:
BU is really taking their sweet time. This does not bode well for the program's organization and communication skills.
Last year they accidentally sent rejections or acceptances (can't remember which) to everyone who applied.
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12 hours ago, cidmeister said:
I sent all my interviews one, the director of recruitment and the program administrator. At min, say thank you to the interviewers.
I did this for pretty much none of my interviews (I think 2-3 profs who stood out only) and got into every school I interviewed at. Won't make or break you, but is common to do.
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Most schools don't call them interviews. They're "recruitment weekends".
Sounds like they may have looked at your application already and just waited for it to be completed with the letter of rec.
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You're fine. Research experience, publications, etc are all you need
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17 minutes ago, zzzz233 said:
Mmmm I see..... Well but for Skpye interviews I think they should at least let me know when I should get up lol...
Oh they haven't even give you a start time? I'd send an email to check in
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On 1/19/2019 at 9:01 PM, DaddyBenzene said:
Hey everybody,
Recently, my PI and I have not been getting along with each other well. He has been saying negatives about me behind my back to my labmates, shifted the majority of my project duties to the other RA, and all in all has been very indirect and passive aggressive with me. Needless to say, he will not make a good candidate for a LOR writer unless we reconcile somehow.
I'm wondering what I should do-- wouldn't not having him as a writer send off red flags to admission committees? I don't care about getting into a prestigious program, but I'm scared that either having 2 non-research references (1 of my decided letter writers is just a professor I took classes with already, and I won't have any other research professors to write a letter in my current PI's stead) or an unflattering one from him will destroy my chances of getting into any program in general.
Please advise.
If you aren't getting along with your PI to that degree, I suggest finding a new lab. That environment won't be conducive to your success anyway.
You should have your current PI as a letter writer when you apply, which is why I suggest finding a new letter writer asap.
Alternatively to your PI, if you work directly with a postdoc and have a good relationship with them, they can write your letter.
It matters less who wrote the letter than that it's a great letter.
- saddybenzene and DevoLevo
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12 hours ago, zzzz233 said:
By any chance, is there anyone here has a skype interview scheduled for next Tuesday with Weill Cornell Neuroscience?
They haven't sent out any schedules or anything... I'm very concerned....
You won't be getting a schedule until you arrive for most interviews.
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On 1/18/2019 at 7:02 PM, 1.21_Gigawatts said:
It could certainly be any of those things.. Its particularly frustrating because I know a few undergrad students with no publications or full-time experience that received interviews and 4 of the places that rejected me.
Right, but that's why all these other factors matter. They might have gotten right what you got wrong. I knew someone with a great CV, 5 years experience after undergrad, lots of publications etc but found out after the fact that one of her letter writers who was getting old and didn't remember her well wrote something blatantly false in he rletter (if you knew her) and it was a red flag for adcomms so she didn't get interviews.
All you can do is try to find the holes in your application and hope to do it better next time.
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20 hours ago, y123 said:
Umm two business days till the cornell interview and they havent sent me who I'm interviewing with. Anyone else in the same spot?
7 hours ago, biomed_gal said:From my understanding, they are giving us the interview list the day we check in. I have heard some schools do this so people don't have too much time to prep. But I'm also in the same position
This. You'll find out day of.
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23 hours ago, theschuster said:
Just got an email from UCI saying my application has been received and is now available to review??? What can this mean?? ?
I think that means you can log in to your online application system for it and it might say something in it?
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51 minutes ago, 1.21_Gigawatts said:
I have to be honest, I'm pretty frustrated with my experience so far. I have 4 years of full-time experience, over 20 publications, 4.0 in my MS, 3.0 undergrad GPA, strong letters of recommendation and lots of teaching/ presentation experience but I keep receiving rejections. So far only 1 interview and 7 rejections... I'm still waiting to hear from 5 more schools, but I'm starting to feel pretty discouraged and confused. Anybody else in the same boat?
It could be fit with programs. Did you apply to all top programs? Are there faculty with similar interests to you at those schools? Are you sure one of your letters didn't have a red flag in it? So many possibilities.
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2 hours ago, Manilo said:
Hello All,
In your experience, what has been your journey after the interview day? Do schools usually tell how many people (percentage) they accept after the interview? Do they receive acceptance letters on a specific day or in a range of days/weeks?
It's usually within 2 weeks after the interview. They only sometimes tell you how much they'll accept (you can ask them at interviews what class size they aim for). And it can be all within a few days or over a few weeks if people decline offers.
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12 hours ago, basicscienceismyjam said:
I received my first invitation to interview this week. The program has asked me to let them know if I want to meet/talk to anyone in particular during my interview. How many potential PI's should I list? I am interested in 5-7 labs at this program.
Name anyone/everyone you'd be interested in working with. If you only name a few, those few might be busy/not around and you'll end up meeting with people you aren't interested in.
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This was me last year. I had no idea what to do/wear. The above suggestions are great, but I just wanted to say that you should be aware when you're there of whether you can actually handle living in that weather. I had one interview where it was 23F and snowing and everyone was saying we were lucky it was so warm that weekend and I was like wtf this is warm?! Didn't end up picking that school.
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2 minutes ago, cidmeister said:
Always be polite
2 minutes ago, cidmeister said:Don't be afraid to ask about the city, how its like to live there and what are some good areas for housing? You can also ask the grad students about fellowships and funding. Ask professors if they are taking students or will be doing lab rotations, ask them about new developments in they research.
3 minutes ago, cidmeister said:He also encouraged me to take notes about the program and my experience during break times throughout the day, obviously you're not going to remember every single detail of the 2+ days you'll be interviewing. Never take notes during interviews or during meals, only during designated break times.
I completely agree with all these.
Be polite to everyone. Everyone is evaluating you in some way, but also being a nice person is generally a good idea (whether or not you're at an interview). Don't be that guy who was noticeably rude to a waiter.
You're going to be living and working in these places, so you should definitely ask about what it's like to live in the area/specific questions about the area. It's great to ask professors during interviews about the city, but you should also ask about what their lab is like. Questions like "Do your students have fellowships?" "Do they go to conferences?" "Where is your funding from?" "What do your students go on to do?" "How many people are in your lab?" show that you know that there's more to being in a lab than just the research. You can love the research but the lab could not offer good opportunities, or not have funding, or is too big/small for your preferences, etc. Of course you can ask grad students the same questions.
Definitely take notes. If you have more than one interview, you're going to forget what you did or didn't like at every school by the time you're deciding. I took notes after each faculty meeting about what we talked about and what my impressions were. But taking notes during would be rude (these interviews are supposed to be like a conversation), so take them when there's nothing else going on. Feel free to take notes during powerpoint presentations.
10 minutes ago, cidmeister said:He also said it is extremely important to have background knowledge on the professors you will be speaking with, read their faculty research profile and if you are extremely interested in them read a few of their papers. Make notes about their research so you can refer to it during the interview process.
I agree to this only to the extent that you should be aware roughly of what they do, but faculty profiles are often out of date. They won't expect you to know everything about their work, or to have read any papers. Only read papers if you're actually really interested. They will likely tell you about their work during the interview (if not, you should ask them about it). Don't refer to any notes during the interviews, but feel free to glance at the one sentence "Dr. X works on XYZ" you should have before you go into the interview.
- fauxmystic, EvoDevoTW, EnchantedR and 1 other
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3 hours ago, CancerBiology said:
Is it safe to assume that we have been rejected from all schools that we have not heard back from already?
Definitely not.
It's not safe to assume until like February, but even then it's possible.
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4 hours ago, neuron9708 said:
Hi everyone! I'm currently a senior in undergrad, applying to computational neuro programs. I haven't heard back from any of my schools (not super surprised seeing as I've not published/only have a year of real comp neuro experience). I'm thinking of the best way to advance my application in the next couple of years, and am considering staying at my current lab as a RA. Does anyone have any advice as to whether it's best to stay on as an RA at your current school or try finding a position somewhere else? Also, how do you even go about finding RA positions at other schools? Do you just email professors who interest you? Any tips at all regarding RA positions/general computational neuro would be so appreciated! Best of luck to you all
It's really up to you. If you like the work in your current lab, have a good relationship with everyone, and are getting opportunities to do your own projects and get on papers, stay in it. If you want to go elsewhere, you can either look for posted positions or just email people you're interested in working with. Make sure to make it clear you want to go to grad school and are hoping to get opportunities to publish etc.
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On 1/8/2019 at 7:06 PM, DevoLevo said:
Different question about interviews: what's the dress code? And will it vary by school?
My assumption is business casual, and probably closer to the science version of business casual which leans more casual...
Anyone who has interviewed previous years that can give me a better idea? I don't want to show up in black jeans and a blazer to a room full of suits.
It was business casual at all the schools where I interviewed. No jeans. Slacks/skirts/dresses, button downs/blouses, cardigans/blazers, flats/boots (heels not advised). Any combination should work.
Thursday night dinner with current students is nicer end of casual. Dinners with faculty are business casual or casual end of business casual.
Comfy shoes advised. Also check the weather because snow/rain.
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On 1/8/2019 at 11:26 AM, nexttosomewhatnormal said:
Also, what are the benefits of doing a post-bac program like these versus getting a job in a lab (hopefully doing neuro research)? Does one look better to admissions committees than the other?
I got a lab job after undergrad, and I've worked at the NIH with IRTA post-baccs. It seems to me that they're really the same thing.
It probably depends what kind of lab job you get, but I was an RA and my lab really had me focusing on research and my own projects. Got a bunch of publications, first authorship in the works, 2 conference posters, went to a ton of talks. My PI knew I wanted to go to grad school and guided my time in her lab toward it.
As far as postbacc programs, if they're just research, no classes, they're pretty much a poorly paid RAship. I think some have perks like free GRE classes and the likes, though. The IRTA program isn't actually much more selective than applying for a job - PIs essentially get a list of applicants and pick out the people they like (I've been told it's literally an "add to cart" situation).
As far as how admissions committees see them, they're no different. The admissions committees are interested in the work you did and what you accomplished, not what your job title or program title was. Figure out what you want for you. Working at the NIH has its own perks (name recognition, PI networking, resources), and a job/RA/tech position could mean get a foot in a school you're interested in attending, or not having to move from where you live now, and probably getting paid more.
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Definitely focus on your own research experience and just know who you're interested in working with at that school and why. You're probably being interviewed by people you didn't list because these are people in the admissions committee. You're not expected to know about their work.
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Well, what are your research interests?
Just state them as simply as you can. For me it was neurodegeneration, but with related subinterests of neuroinflammation and protein aggregation.
It's not meant to be a complicated question/answer.
Probably the more important questions they'll ask are "Why do you want a PhD?" and "Why this school?".
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It's not really about quantity of schools applied to if none are a good fit. You want to make sure the schools align with your interests. Adcomms can tell if they don't.
Again, there's still plenty of time and there's no need to worry until like March, and even then there's still a chance! But I'm happy to look at people's applications and give my input for what you can do to improve your application for next time if it comes down to it.
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3 hours ago, blackprodigy said:
I know you're not giving a presentation. But there some that do want impromptu presentations...I've seen a few. It makes for ease when discussing some works. And yes they may know your background, but it still doesn't hurt. Rather have and not need than need and not have.
I didnt mean to come off as you need to be a robot and have everything all figured out, but it is important to seem like you have an idea of what's going on in the industry and what attracted you to that professor.
Being as prepared as I can be makes me more confident and I can leave knowing that I did all that I could do to rock my interviews. People take notice to details. It sets you apart. At the end of the day, do what makes you comfortable. If you can trust the process and be more of a "wing it" or "go with the flow kinda person", do you.
I get that. I wasn't saying don't do any of it, you just don't have to. A lot of people get psyched out thinking there's all this preparing you have to do for interviews when you really don't have to prepare anything. Of course do whatever makes you feel comfortable, just know you won't be left behind if you haven't done all this prep. Just know your own research and your interests and you should be fine.
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10 hours ago, blackprodigy said:
Your previous research. I'm bringing a digital copy on my flash drive and printing out my posterboard on a piece of paper. CVs couldn't hurt. Also, prepare questions for faculty and grad students that cant be answered on their website. Prepare yourself for some questions other than research related too. If you want specifics, lemme know.
Come business professional. Always the most formal. Address people by the formal before the tell you otherwise. Never break character even around grad students. Everyone is judging you. Everyone is watching! They will report back!
10 hours ago, zzzz233 said:First interview at Wash U is coming up within a week.. Anyone has suggestions for what to prepare and what to expect for the interviews? Thank you!
They will likely already have your CV in front of them. I printed out a bunch and over 7 schools and who knows how many interviews never had to pull one out.
As far as previous research: if there's something about your research that's really not easy to talk about without visuals, feel free to bring a visual aid, but it really isn't otherwise necessary. You're having a conversation, not giving a presentation. If you can just discuss, that works.
You don't really have to have read about any of their work or have preset questions about their work. They'll tell you about it there and you can ask whatever you want to about it. If you happen to be super interested and just have a question that you didn't plan, great, ask it. It shouldn't seem inorganic. I read a ton of papers before my first recruitment weekend, couldn't keep em all straight in my head, and they never came up because they all just started telling me about their work without asking if I already knew about it. Didn't prep for the rest of the recruitment weekends.
I have to emphasize that it's supposed to be a conversation with someone who could one day be your mentor. They know you're academically qualified. They want to see your enthusiasm and personal skills. They want to get to know *you*, so be yourself.
- zzzz233, pizzarollgotbusted and _kb
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2019 Neuroscience PhD Applicants and Admission Results
in Biology
Posted
Don't be too bummed about that. After interviews, my preference rankings flipped completely. BU was "my far my #1 choice" until after my interview.
One way or another, you'll be fine.