BabyScientist

Some may not ever send rejections.

Sure, but neurobiology too? It just seems like they could all be the same program and nothing would be different.

I'd say only if you're super interested in them. You could introduce yourself, describe a bit of your experience and your interest in their work, and say you hope you can meet them at interviews (tell them you were invited)

BU Neuroscience is Monday to Wednesday. Those dates sound right. Neurobiology and Behavioral Neuro are different so depends which you applied to. Side comment, why do they have so many neuro programs?!

Depends on the school. Usually about 50% If you're super set on the school, convey that during the interview. They are rolling the dice with every admission offer because they can only admit so many people but also want to fill their spots so they like to offer admission to people who will likely go there.

There are no rules. Christmas and new years are unlikely but other than that it can be any time.

If Cornell is your first choice, prioritize it. Don't Skype in for your first choice, it could decrease your chances. Have you booked flights for UVA and UMass yet? Contact those schools and see if you can reschedule those to alternative dates.

UCLA does 2 rounds of invites. I believe the 2nd is early January. I can confirm that Brown is done, but will also say that in the past they have reached out to a few people well after interviews (~March) if they still had interest. Not something to count on though. UCSF and UCSD I believe only do 1 round.

It's too early to be in disaster mode. Get off gradcafe. Stop looking at the results page. It's unhealthy during this stage of applications. IF (and I must emphasize IF) you don't get in anywhere this cycle, start with your SOP. Have others read it, think about it from the perspective of an adcomm. Did you convey why you want to go to grad school or just regurgitate your CV? Did you mention specific things you like about that school, or just name the school? Did you inadvertently put in any red flags? Then consider who wrote your LORs. Maybe there was one you weren't sure about? And reconsider the schools. Did you only apply to top tier schools that your average GPA may hold you back from? Again, it's too early for this. Relax. Breathe. It'll be okay.

No problem. Gradcafe isn't very healthy for this phase in the application process. Happy to chat whenever.

First, it's still very early, you already have one interview invite and you could get more. You're freaking out too early. Contacting professors isn't required and likely isn't the problem, so don't worry about that. Your GRE scores are fine and no one cares about the GRE anymore anyway. You asked if you should reapply if you don't get enough interview offers, but it should be "should I reapply if I don't get the right admissions offer". You only need to get into one school, and you only need to really like one school. UVA is amazing if you're interested in neuron-glia interactions, and I absolutely loved it when I interviewed. It could be the one. If you don't get in anywhere: re-evaluate your SOP - that and LORs are the most important component and a lot of people unknowingly throw red flags into their SOPs. But again, you're worrying about this wayyyy too early. I continued to get interview invites until mid January. Just because people have started to get them and some people have gotten so many doesn't mean there aren't still so many more to come. Chill. You got this.

There isn't really any winter break shutdown. I got an interview invite the day after Christmas. The only days likely to be quiet are Dec 24, 25 and maybe Dec 31, Jan 1.

Around 50%, depending on the school.

If they have other interview dates, I would try to reschedule. I do recommend prioritizing your top choice school, though.

Most are sent out by the end of January. Some can sprinkle in as late as March.

Brown only has the one interview weekend. If Duke has others, try to reschedule that one.

Probably the org where you worked with him.

That's not a low GPA. Your question depends say more on your relevant experience.

I would have done that before submitting. If you contact 3 people you're interested in at a certain school now, and none of them are taking students, why did you apply to that school? Contacting people in advance doesn't change your odds of acceptance. They won't be going out of their way to help you get in just because you sent them a nice email. That being said, if you're just genuinely interested in their work and want to talk to them about it, you could reach out and just say something like "I've submitted my application for the fall, and am very interested in your work because xyz. I was hoping you'd have some time to talk about your work."

It's hard to say. I think your odds are good for getting at least a couple interviews, but it really depends on the extent of your research, and how good your LORs and SOP actually are. Your numbers are good enough that you'll get through those checks, but research experience and the rest depends on other applicants and how your LORs/SOP are. They're not all reach - Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Princeton, Cornell, MIT are reach. Brown is probably reach just because they place a large emphasis on research experience/taking time off (though idk, you might have enough experience). Dartmouth is less reachy, I believe. NYU, BU, and Mt. Sinai I think you have better chances at, but it still depends on the aforementioned factors. As a general rule of thumb, I always think it's a good idea to take time off and work as a tech. You couldn't be worse off for it; it could only help. It really depends on what you want. If you're dead set on only going to the top schools, taking time off for more experience and publications and the likes could really help. P.S. Don't apply to schools just because they're highly ranked - make sure you have at least 3 faculty members you'd be excited to work with at each school.

Which do you consider most significant? It's open ended for a reason. Which one taught you more, were you more involved/interested in, shaped your interests more? They don't mean significant as in findings or impact, but significant in terms of your experience.

Well all that really matters is that there are at least 3 people you'd be interested in working with at each school. School choices always seem random.

You're going to want a wider range of schools... Your application looks fine depending on LOR and SOP, but if you want to maximize your chances of getting in, those are all pretty high tier schools. Consider Tufts and Tulane (places I've heard of good for industry and cancer bio, respectively).

Most schools will still look at people below their minimums, especially if you've already had positive interactions with people there. If they have your name in mind already, they'll look at your application for sure.

SOP, LOR, experience, GPA, GRE That's the order I'd put it in, though some schools might put GPA over experience. Depends. Also some schools may do an initial filter by GPA and then go by this ranking.