StemCellFan

Congrats on your acceptances!! I can only tell you things that stand out to me as I would make my decision. 1. I'm not all that interested in classroom teaching as much as I am into research and mentorship, and I think a TA would distract me too much. Therefore I would prefer a program that doesn't have a TA requirement. Stanford would win for me. 2. Coursework is probably the least important factor for choosing a program since I don't see it as that important. The only classes I care about is probably a grant writing course and maybe an ethics course. I would probably go with the one that's either more flexible or doesn't have a lot of coursework I'm required to take. 3. Stanford seems like the winner here. The fact you've started making connections with some of them and building such a good rapport is a good sign! 4. For this, my inclination is that you want to do your graduate work in a lab with a PI who can provide the right amount of guidance you need. Some of the powerhouse labs with legendary PIs are very busy and maybe aren't conducive to the mentorship you need to succeed as a grad student. From what it sounds like here, Stanford is the better pick for your graduate studies, and then moving into one of the legendary PI's labs for your post doc (if that's where you see your career going). 5/6. Eh, Boston/Cambridge would appeal to me more because of how expensive Palo Alto is and I would like to live off campus. This would almost be a deal breaker for me, but I prioritized cost of living, location, and stipend compensation over some other factors (and why I didn't even consider applying to anywhere out of the midwest). 7. I think MIT and Stanford are pretty comparable for prestige. You can't go wrong with either, really. Other things to consider is if you fit in with the culture of one program vs another. Did you get along better with the students at one or the other? The faculty? Are you more social or non-social, and would one program give you more opportunities for social events? Also, does one have better student outcomes than others and can you see yourself having a successful career? MIT and Stanford are both amazing programs/schools, so I can see students being successful at both.

From what I've heard, publications are not the end all be all when it comes to graduate admissions. Have you at least presented your research at a conference in a poster or oral format? If you feel you are ready to apply next Fall (and it sounds like you have a bit of research experience under your belt), I think you have a shot. I have a couple first author pubs in preparation right now, and I just mentioned it in my personal statement, and during my interviews, my interviewers seemed impressed when I talked about it. So even if the paper isn't actually published, you can still mention it as in preparation, in submission, in review, etc. For lit reviews, I haven't done one of those, so I'm not sure what that all entails. But I imagine getting anything published in a reputable journal would be difficult without a PI backing you up.

It sounds like you can't go wrong with either, but I'm partial to school B. But I like programs that have research diversity, which means there is potential for collaboration with individuals who have different research backgrounds and focuses that could provide input into a project. This will also open you up to a wider variety of research, assuming that the research being done here is research you are interested in. I would also consider what your goals are after the PhD and try to decide which of the two programs would set you up nicely for the next step afterwards (which it sounds like school B would provide). This is just how I would decide. They both sound like great programs. Best of luck and congrats your acceptances!

That is awesome!!! Congratulations!

Hahaha. Not weird at all! It certainly gave me a funny mental image. I hope you hear some good news soon! Congrats!!

It would make sense to have a funding decision before making official offers. This way they have a package set up for the applicants they want to admit to the program. That you received an email like that indicating a "funding decision" beforehand is kind of odd. Maybe it's their way of saying they are making admissions decisions at the time?

As far as mentor choice, it's true that you don't really know for sure until you go through rotations. I've been basing my observations on this by talking to students or meeting the faculty myself, but yeah my advice on this is probably better suited for someone trying to pick their thesis lab after rotations! As far as program vs. research, I don't know what is objectively more important. For me, research fit would outweigh the program structure, unless it was terrible in my eyes (i.e. students typically graduate on the 7 year end rather than 5, no students have been successful in securing pre-doctoral awards, you're constantly taking required classes throughout your PhD, etc)

I was advised by multiple people on my interviews that mentor is ultimately more important than the research you are doing. Yes, you want to do research you like and are interested in, but what you get out of your time as a PhD student is going to depend on how well you are mentored and the connections you will be able to build. I don't know what you mean by not liking the second school's program structure. Do you know what the mentors would be like at each school in the areas of research you would be doing? One of the schools I interviewed at had a few students transfer out of the program I would probably end up in, and that was a huge red flag for me. Location differs from individual to individual. Location was one of the most important factors for me, but for others it's not a big deal. I personally wanted to live in an area that I liked and had very affordable cost of living. I'm taking a big pay cut going back to school and don't know if I would be comfortable rooming with random people and living off of ramen. I didn't want to live in a massive city either. This took some schools out of the equation for me. But, there will be times when you are relaxing and not working in the laboratory, and when you have that free time, do you think you will enjoy living where you are at outside of the lab?

Congrats!!! I don't blame you for not wanting to live in SF.

I saw you have Madison as one of your choices. If you haven't visited the city before or want more information on the state of Wisconsin, I can give you some! As far as the Communications department, I'm useless, unfortunately.

I think this is an important! Overall money you are offered should not matter, but it should matter in the context of the cost of living. My cheap cost of living midwest cities offered me around 30k for each program (give or take a little), which is the norm for the area. The schools in New York City or Bay Area offer anywhere between 35-40k, but students often have to seek out homes with multiple roommates or subsidized student housing because even 35k isn't enough. 30k is enough for a studio or 1 bed apartment in the cities I was looking to live in, though. You won't live lavishly, but you should not need to take out any debt to keep you afloat. Part of the reason I chose to stay in the midwest is personal/family reasons, but I also don't want to live in an absurdly high cost of living area. Students are still able to live in those areas and make do, but I would not be comfortable with that cost of living. Going into the application season, I felt weird stating one of my reasons for choosing to stay in the midwest because it's affordable to live in. But it seems like the students and some of the faculty I met with during my interviews understood my dilemma.

I would check to see if you can be reimbursed for your travel, although 2000 upfront is still A LOT to ask for. The downside is that you won't be able to see the campus and environment first hand. I would try to get into contact with some current students in the program to ask them questions about the program. I don't think it's rude to decline the invitation if you are unable to make it, and they will not reimburse your trip. There are a lot of international students that are admitted, and attend, programs in which they have never seen in person before making a decision. So the administration should understand the situation you are in. I live in the middle of the US and if I was admitted to an east coast school and invited to an admit day without any travel reimbursement, I wouldn't go to an Admit Day. The minuses of not going is not seeing the area yourself, not seeing yourself if the students are happy there, and you won't be able to see the buildings you will be spending most of your time in in-person. The plus-side is that you are already admitted, so there is no obligation for you to go. And you will be saving a lot of money by not going if they are not paying for travel. I would save that 2000 to help with costs of moving or left in a savings account while you are in school. You don't know if an emergency might come up!

Instead of emailing a faculty member on the admissions committee, could you speak with the non-faculty program administrator or coordinator instead? I know who that is for Case Western, but I'm not sure for Vermont. I know this doesn't avoid emailing a person about it, but I would try to do so anyway. I'm going to do this for the first time later this month, but I'm sure they are used to admitted applicants rejecting them as we are being rejected from some of the schools we applied to!

Congrats!! I didn't know programs still used snail mail! @catsareme Congrats on your WashU acceptance!

Plenty of applicants recover from a low undergrad GPA and with a much better masters GPA get into very good PhD programs. I do think you have a shot, and you are doing the right thing by proving to admissions that you can succeed in their courses with that masters GPA. The rest of your stats look good, as long as you can secure some great LoRs and write a compelling statement of purpose. I don't know what else goes into engineering or compsci PhD admissions since it's out of my field, but I seriously don't think a low undergrad GPA will bar you from those schools you listed. Good luck!

I had to deal with this recently. I think they will be sad that you are not interviewing with them, BUT if you 100% know for sure that you will not attend this program, then I think you are fine cancelling. I wouldn't be surprised if they do have an interview hold list, so they can contact someone from that to come and interview. Two weeks is adequate notice. But, again, only do this if you will not consider this program at all. Doing your undergrad there, you have a better feel of the program than someone who hasn't visited at all. They will be sad, but I think they will understand. I was in a similar situation and I did this too.

I don't know if you're referring to an interview weekend, but schools are used to applicants having scheduling conflicts. I think if you politely explain that you simply aren't available that specific weekend, you could straight up ask if there is another weekend you can come visit. I don't know if you've been accepted already and this is an open house, but I don't see the harm and trying to get some faculty together to meet with you. The only thing is that programs that coordinate interview weekends have more than just faculty meetings--there's program information, students available to host and meet with you, and tours that are coordinated. You may not get this if you stop by for a visit. It's still worth it to ask though!

I've been pretty honest about it when I've been asked. I've always seen it as a way for faculty and students to gauge how likely you are to join them and open up more conversation as to why their program is the best. I personally don't see the harm in it. I don't think it'd be looked at negatively you decline to answer though. It was also pretty common for the fellow applicants to ask each other where else they are interviewing. I liked it because I surprisingly learned that a couple fellow applicants were also interviewing on other weekends with me, so I had another person I kind of knew there and could chat with.

I've accepted my offer yesterday at University of Wisconsin and I'm really excited about it! On the other hand, I really enjoyed my visit to Cincinnati and part of me feels like I might regret not going there. But I also know if I chose Cincinnati that I would regret not choosing Wisconsin. I enjoyed my weekend and interviews in Wisconsin more than Cincinnati, but Cincinnati is more accessible with parking, lower cost of living, and I would be living in a different area than I'm used to since I've lived in Wisconsin my whole life. But my support system, family, and friends are in Wisconsin. And with a spouse it's not easy to just uproot and move elsewhere, and pluck them away from their social circle and job network. So I made the decision for Wisconsin, but I wanted to voice my reasons for considering Cincinnati a little bit. Wisconsin was my top choice going into the application season and it's a fantastic place to do stem cell research at. Also, I'm feeling a little bad having to reject the other schools. They put a lot of time and money into trying to recruit me and everyone is so nice, and I have connections to the admissions committee at one of the schools I interviewed at but will not be choosing. I'm sure it's something they are used to dealing with. I'm fortunate myself to be in this situation, especially after going through this cycle once before with no luck on my end.

Congratulations!! I visited the campus once a while back and it's beautiful! I hear good things about their Bio program too. On that note, I sent the response back today and I've committed to University of Wisconsin! I also received an email from the graduate school asking for my official transcripts and that an "official offer" cannot be made until they see these. Is there anything I should worry about? Do some applicants get rejections from the graduate school although the program emailed them an acceptance letter? I haven't notified the other programs of my decision yet. I graduated undergrad years ago if it helps.

I also want to piggyback off the NIH comment to say that the US government is more likely to pump money into the NIH. I've heard the NIH is doing okay relative to other agencies like the NSF. I didn't look at this recently, so things may have changed with respect to the budget. Not to say that faculty outside of the school of medicine don't go for NIH grants, just that resources under a school of medicine are more readily available to assist faculty to apply for NIH grants (like grant discussion groups or grant writing courses to help students apply for F31/F32 fellowships).

Congrats on your interview invites! In general, biomedical sciences programs that are under a school of medicine, are extremely competitive with a lot of applications. One thought is that many bio undergrads come in as pre-meds but change their mind, so a PhD is an alternative for them, or they realize that they love research more than being a physician. So studying in a program under a school of medicine fits their interests more. Another thought is that programs under medical schools have more money and can award better stipends and funding opportunities. I've noticed this while looking into programs at the same school (UIC and U of Cincinnati), but one is in Arts and Sciences and the other is under the medical school. I was looking at a 2k-3k stipend difference just for attending a program under the med school. Also, many biomedical sciences programs I've looked at (and all the ones I applied to) do not require a TAship so you can focus on research more. If you want to go for one, the opportunities are there. It is possible that you just ran into tough competition, or maybe the research you were most enthusiastic about in your SoP fell more in line with faculty in programs under Arts and Sciences. So maybe it's a little bit of column A and a little column B.

I've always taken a professor signing as their first name as a sign that they are okay being addressed like that. No need to always refer to them as Dr. X. It took me a year after undergrad to get used to this since almost all professors I've interacted with as a technician were totally cool being addressed by their first names. These individuals will be your mentors/advisors/teachers, but they are also your colleagues!

Cincinnati MDB acceptance! I guess the committee met on Friday after interviews were over and made their decisions pretty quickly. It looks like my season is wrapped up

Congratulations!! You must be really relieved now!