ChallengerSwimmer23

Nice. We'll definitely see each other at the interview. My interview is on Feb 8-10 as well!

Just got an interview invite at MD Anderson UT Health Houston Cancer Biology & Immunology Ph.D. program! That's exciting! Right back in my hometown of Houston.

Cool. Thanks for all the suggestions. Winter clothes in Texas is a joke compared to what y'all wear in Midwest or East Coast. Bought what I need for winter. Flying up to Columbus OH from Dallas-Fort Worth TX for my first interview at OSU. If anyone here is interviewing at OSU later this week, I will see you there.

I don't plan to contact any PIs before the interview. Not needed and admissions probably won't care if you do or do not reach out to the PIs. Best to wait until after acceptance when you need to decide which program you would like to go to if you want to confirm that any PIs on your wish list has any open spots or available funding for the upcoming year.

Looks like this week more schools are getting back to business. Hang tight everyone...our inbox should be busy this week and next week. I prepping for my first interview to be held later this week. Very excited!

You're definitely competitive. You should be good on your apps.

Hi everyone, I have interviews at Ohio State and Notre Dame. I am from Texas where it is usually 60-70 degrees at this time of the year. Maybe a week here and there that is 50 degrees. This is my first time traveling to the Midwest. Since the interviews are next month and I'm sure there will be snow. How do I dress professionally while also dressing for weather? For those of y'all from the Midwest, how do you dress for interviews at this time of year? Thanks. EDIT (after reading several posts): I forgot to mention that I am a guy in my initial post. Very excellent advice from all the responses on here for both guys and women dressing up. Good advice for anyone from the South. Thanks for the responses! I'll bundle up and enjoy my time in the Midwest next month!

Rejected from UMich PIBS. Kinda saw that one coming since they were calling people all of last week. Can't catch 'em all. But No worries! Already have two awesome invites and maybe some more coming this week and January.

Hello fellow Texan. I am from the DFW. I am waiting to hear back from BCM as well. No one has posted about BCM yet on here as far as I know. Hopefully we'll hear back this week.

I heard back from Ohio State on December 5th via email. They have already sent out the recruitment weekend schedule for Jan 11-13th to all invited for that weekend and already sent me my flight info.

Keeping an eye on my phone in case University of Michigan PIBS decides to call me. Seems like they call instead of emailing. Any updates on UMich, UNC BBSP, Baylor College of Medicine, or Vanderbilt IGP?

I had a friend of mine who was invited for 6 interviews years ago. She basically was out every weekend in January and February. She had to juggle with her final semester classes which can be a bit challenging. But you have to do what you have to. This is a career decision. If you have to take a B or even a C in a class (in worst case scenario but avoid a C if possible), because you were juggling interviews and exams in the first part of the semester, just do it. It's your final semester of senior year so it won't count much, but your interviews are extremely important. Personally I wouldn't turn down any interview offers. Give all programs a chance so you can find the right fit. I am invited to 2 interviews already and I will definitely expect more invites based on the competitiveness of the two programs that gave me interviews. I plan to be at all the interviews. I am finishing my master's thesis and balancing with major experiments. Don't have any classes next semester so I don't have to worry about any exams. But I do have to be sure that I am done with my master's thesis by early March and defend in early April to graduate in May. So I have to plan my last set of experiments accordingly while planning these interviews. Just plan out your schedule next semester accordingly.

When did you get that email? I checked my emails to see if I missed it, I didn't get the email. I looked everywhere on the UTSW admissions website and the 2 departments - immunology and cancer biology I applied to. I didn't see anything about a secondary application. Maybe unless they are sending it to people that will be invited to interviews. That's the only thing I could think of. We'll see.

I applied to UTSW Division of Basic Sciences Ph.D. program. UTSW does not have a secondary application for Ph.D. applicants. Secondary application is for their medical school applicants.

Cool! I will see you in South Bend on January 25-28th!

Got another interview invite! University of Notre Dame Biological Sciences Ph.D. Program! Wow!

Just got an interview invite from Ohio State Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program! Very excited! I look forward to the interview and meeting everyone there!

A "low" (technically average) verbal GRE score especially if it's 150 is not going to put you out. You are not going to be filling in blanks to sentences in grad school. I made 149 on Verbal (because I messed up filling in blank in vocab. never good with vocab questions.), but my Analytical Writing is 4.5 and Quan is 155. And I have a very strong research experience with 3 publications, national conference presentation, and master's thesis to defend next semester. GRE scores are becoming the least important factor in applications anyway, so I wouldn't worry. If I were on the admissions committee, I care about your research experience and how you prepared for grad school in the sciences. I don't care about GRE score. Research experience > GRE. You're fine. Focus your essays and SOPs on your research experience and motivation to go to graduate school. Don't waste time wasting characters or words on explaining low verbal score. Your SOPs are much more valuable bringing out your research experience and achievements like a jewel instead.

Improved on the Analytical Writing 4.5 (82%). Happy about that to say the least. Today seems to be a general consensus deadline on applications. How's everyone doing with this? I already submitted all my apps the first 2 weeks of November and everything (LORs, transcripts, GRE scores, etc.) are in! Now I am focused on finishing my master's, defend my proposal and thesis, and hopefully travel for interviews by plane or speed in my Challenger if it's somewhere in Texas. Good luck on your applications! Maybe I'll see some of y'all at interviews.

I am one who thinks that I should not contact faculty members until after acceptance into a program. I personally do not like to bother faculty members when faculty members are so busy writing grants, supporting their grad students and labs, and teaching. Believe me. I am in graduate school as a masters student and am currently applying to Ph.D. programs. I see behind the scenes all the time. Often times faculty members will ignore those emails if it's someone who is only an applicant. Now, if you are accepted into the program and you are trying to make a decision between Program A versus Program B, then YES, you may contact faculty members that you are interested in to see if they are accepting grad students next year. At that point, before committing to a program, I would even make another visit to the lab if possible if I am torn about two programs but only after you are accepted to those two programs. I just think there's a right time to contact them. Contacting them before submitting your application won't help too much. If the program feels you are qualified, fit into the program, and are interested in you, they'll take you. Contacting faculty members is not going to decide that. That's my take but opinions vary a lot with this.

Undergrad Institution: Texas A&M University (Whoop!) Graduate Institution (Masters): A well-respected graduate school of biomedical sciences in TX...can't say where. Don't want to reveal too much of myself. lol. Major(s): B.S. Biology, Finishing my M.S. in ImmunologyMinor(s): N/AGPA in Major: 3.2 (undergrad :/), ~3.5 (masters)Overall GPA: ~3.3 when you average both undergrad and mastersPosition in Class: N/AType of Student: Domestic Male Hispanic Graduate School StudentGRE Scores (revised/old version): Retook the GRE - scored around the same. Writing should go up though. Have other parts of my app that trumps GRE anyway and already have been tested in grad school as a master's student in my classes and research. Q: 155 (59%)V: 150 (~48%)W: 4.0 (60%)Research Experience: 25 full-time months of research experience (it's because I am in grad school - that's why I have so many hours and months of lab and research time). Overall, very strong research experience in both undergrad and grad school. From undergrad, got 2 publications (1 co-author and 1 first-author submitted recently). 2 projects in undergrad in which one used bacteriophages and other was a phage genomics related project. Became interested in cancer immunology research in grad school. Major project in an immunotherapy lab, about to submit my first-author publication very soon, presented my project as an oral presentation at national SACNAS Conference, co-mentored an undergrad this summer on his project (he took 4th place among all summer undergrad students), and working on my thesis to be defended next semester. Pushing for another publication next year before I leave to a Ph.D. program. Also about to present another oral presentation of my project at an upcoming local conference and hoping to present at AAI Conference in Austin this upcoming May! Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Outstanding SACNAS Chapter Graduate Student Award, 2 Competitive Research Travel Scholarships in support of my trip to SACNAS Conference, Hispanic Scholarship Fund Scholar, Invited to Present Oral Presentation at 2017 SACNAS, Elected as President of SACNAS Chapter on my campus back in MarchPertinent Activities or Jobs: Teaching Assistant for graduate-level biostatistics course, graduate student co-mentor of summer undergraduate research student from HBCU program, President of my SACNAS Chapter, Coordinator or among leaders of 3 major mentorship educational outreach programs geared towards increasing minority middle and high school students interested in biomedical sciences - gave a lot of presentations and coordinated mentorship activities in science outreach programsAny Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Violinist in University Orchestra (4 years in undergrad), host of a classical music radio show, competitive chess player, competitive Masters Swimmer (compete in butterfly and freestyle for fun against other masters swim clubs), Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (3 years), volunteer violinist at my church, Water PoloSpecial Bonus Points: Both my undergrad PI and grad PI are very well-known researchers in their respective fields. I am a master's student already incorporated in a Ph.D. program - in other words, the Ph.D. admissions committee in my program already know me very well since I see them everyday - advantage for their Ph.D. program I applying to. Also connected with all Ph.D. programs at SACNAS Conference one by one to make sure they remember me on my application and learn more about specific faculty with openings (NETWORKING IS ESSENTIAL!). I am applying to Ph.D. as a Master's student, so Ph.D. programs are looking at someone who is well tested already in graduate school in both my classwork and my research. Hispanic URM from Texas. Lots of Graduate Level Classes - all A's and B's. Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Well, GRE might be on the slightly low side for the programs I am applying to. However (the good news), from personally talking with these top Ph.D. programs at SACNAS Conference, there is a general consensus that GRE is the least important factor on the application (GRE should not be even a factor in applications to begin with - GRE doesn't predict anyone's success in grad school). Master's GPA is good, big overall trend. Struggled in undergrad because family member was being treated for cancer, so that very tough on my grades, but I worked hard and stayed focused on my goals. Rec Letters are very strong with all of them coming from all my research mentors. Strong research experience in both undergrad and grad school.Applying to Where: Crossing Fingers!!! Good Luck everyone! Baylor College of Medicine UT Southwestern UT Health Houston - MD Anderson University of Notre Dame University of Michigan PIBS University of Texas at Austin Rice University University of Houston University of North Texas Health Science Center The Ohio State University Vanderbilt University IGP University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill BBSP University of Texas Medical Branch Galveston