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I'm still deciding, but possibly??? Kind of worried about living expenses in NYC though, so I'm leaning a bit more towards the west coast. What program are you in?

Hey there @DaddyBenzene, just here to offer my $0.02 - I would agree with everything biotechie said, and especially reiterate that depending on what field you're in, the ivy league may not actually be the best. For example, in my applications process, a number of public research universities like UC's, University of Washington, UNC Chapel Hill, etc. are much better for the type of research I'm interested in than a lot of the ivy league. Definitely consider program and research fit over name brand or perceived prestige. Secondly, I applied this year as a senior in undergrad, and while I'd say it's definitely doable, it is not the norm. At all the interview visits I went to, I'd estimate a solid 90% of the interviewees had taken at least one "gap year" between undergrad and grad school to gain experience or just to make sure that a Ph.D. was the route they wanted to take. However, just speaking from my personal experience, as long as you curate your application list well (i.e. do your homework and make sure the places you're applying to are places you really really want to go to and where you see your interests matching really well with ideally at least 3 faculty members per program), I think there's no harm in applying. Even if the worst happens, you can always take a year to boost your CV and reapply the next year.

This is going to sound ungrateful; I promise it's not meant to be. I'm incredibly excited to have two great offers, but I promised myself that I would have to wait until I hear back from every school before officially making my decision. IT'S KILLING ME!!! Of the three schools that I haven't heard from, I'm sure one is a rejection (no interview), but I interviewed at the other two (one in late January and one in early February), and I don't know what's taking them so long to get back to me! I would honestly be happy to just get officially rejected, so I can get over it and then go ahead and start on the actual decision-making process.

I can't speak to the schools / programs themselves, but as someone who grew up in the SF Bay area and is currently finishing up undergrad in the Research Triangle area in NC, I know both regions very well. If location is at all a factor in your decision, you're more than welcome to PM me about it!

I feel like there's no harm in writing the essay for the fellowship, and as you said it's just a short essay. If you happen to get into [top choice] AND get the fellowship, you can always decline the fellowship offer, but if you happen to not get into [top choice], then you don't want to be left regretting not applying for the fellowship.

Today I got a call with an admissions offer from one of my top choices (yay!) -- I really don't want to go to my final interview, which is two weeks from now, since I know I wouldn't go to that school over the one I just got accepted to and also am feeling really sick/burned out after traveling a lot over the past month. However, this last interview is at the university and department where I'm currently finishing up my undergrad, so will it look really bad/ungrateful for me to tell them that I won't be interviewing? On the one hand, there are no flights or accommodations they need to cancel, but on the other hand, I live here and still have to finish out my bachelor's in this department. What's the best way to phrase this email so I don't piss anyone off?

Today I got a call with an admissions offer from one of my top choices (yay!) -- I don't want to go to my final interview, which is two weeks from now, since I know I wouldn't go to that school over the one I just got accepted to and also am feeling really sick/burned out after traveling a lot over the past month. However, this last interview is at the university and department where I'm currently finishing up my undergrad, so will it look really bad/ungrateful for me to tell them that I won't be interviewing? On the one hand, there are no flights or accommodations they need to cancel, but on the other hand, I live here and still have to finish out my bachelor's in this department.

For most of my interviews, I've been sent a personal itinerary including PIs that I'll be talking to, which is useful because I like to do a little reading up on them before I meet them. However, I have an interview weekend starting in two days and haven't gotten such a list; I've only received a "general" itinerary which says "interviews - refer to individual interview schedules." Is it acceptable to contact the program coordinator to ask where my individual schedule is?

I'm trying not to rank anything until I have multiple offers and can try to weight things like cost of living vs stipend and other 'secondary' factors like that They'll almost certainly respond as quickly or even faster for you since you're the second weekend! The PIs didn't expect me to know ANYTHING about their research but seemed pleasantly surprised when I asked a question based on their lab website / abstracts I'd read online, so I'd do at least a little bit of prep work, and for the ones you specifically wanted to interview with, be able to say why you requested them. Best of luck!!!

Not sure if the dress code varies by subject (I know folks in the natural sciences tend to dress casually so I may be biased) but I've been wearing either a dress + cardigan or trousers + blouse + jacket for my day of interviews, and jeans + nice sweater for other days / dinner events. That's been totally fine and very average in terms of the formality of other candidates' outfits. Good luck!

Hi @kalixxxx! It was a really chill interview visit. I talked to 4 PIs (the first one was surprisingly formal in that she had printed out a list of questions and took notes on my responses, but the rest were very casual conversations). Dress code was what I'd consider to be "business casual" -- I wore a dress and a cardigan for interview day and jeans + sweater for other events, and that seemed about middle-of-the-road formality-wise. They have a good range of events to connect interviewees with current students and faculty (including departmental dinners and "cultural events" including off-broadway shows and opera). Also, they got back to us SUPER fast: I got my acceptance letter exactly a week after the interview. PM me if you have any other specific questions! What program are you going for?

Just got an email telling me that my first paper is officially published-ahead-of-print on the journal's website!!!!

So excited to finally get to contribute to this thread!!! My first acceptance email came in right as I was stepping out of the last PI interview of the day at another school's interview weekend Obviously it's bad form to freak out about being accepted at one school while you're at an interview for a different school, so I tried my best to keep a straight face and then dashed into the stairwell to call my mom and my SO and scream!!! I still feel like I'm dreaming.... I really didn't expect good news after getting super nervous and tongue-tied in the interviews (it was the first school I interviewed with; they got back to me in a week). And I still have more interviews to go, but I'm SO HAPPY that I have a solid choice now and don't have to worry about looking for jobs in my spare time anymore :)))))

Just got my first acceptance!!! Email came in while I was at an interview for another school so I had to scream on the inside lol but AAAAHHHHHHHHH

Okay, I'm just going to be blunt here because I really feel like you need a reality check. 1) You're not that special. You're not some tortured intellectual that we mere mortals can't understand. Especially not simply because you were a nerd as a kid, because c'mon, this is a grad school forum; we all were. 2) Stop looking down on other people, especially people in your cohort. You all got accepted to the same place in the same field, don't act like you're sooooo intellectually superior. 3) If you act like your affection is a great honor to be bestowed upon some poor girl who will regard it as mythical and otherworldly, you will probably never have a successful relationship. I need for you to remind and keep reminding yourself that you want to be excited about a person, not just excited about the idea of someone liking you. No matter where in life you are, no matter how many relationships you have had, in any relationship, you WANT the other person to be more into you than into the idea of simply having someone be attracted to them because the latter wears off really quickly while the former might never fade away. 4) Please stop fetishizing Asian girls. You absolutely are, and it is in no way okay. It's also super not okay to be looking for any type of girl based on their having "childlike" or "virginal" personality aspects or features. That's, if not borderline pedophilic, definitely majorly creepy. My sincere hope for you is that you work on making some friends first. Especially try to make some female friends, but -- this is the important part -- WITHOUT having the goal of a relationship in mind. Your posts continuously read as if you have never actually interacted with a woman in a casual setting, or if you have, you certainly haven't tried to respect her or see her as anything other than as a prize to be won. Maybe once you learn this *literally bare minimum* skill of viewing women as real people rather than a "dream girl" AI you think you can plug specifications into, you may be able to attempt dating. But friend, you need to gain a heck of a lot more emotional maturity if you want to have a successful, adult relationship. Right now, you read as if you're looking for the type of "relationship" sixth graders think they're in where their parents drive them to the movies and they stare at each other over a tub of popcorn. I think you could benefit from seeing a therapist for some extra help in developing your emotional level and your interpersonal relationship skills. Finally, It's great to have someone that you don't have to be serious around all the time (my favorite moments with my partner are when we're just being goofballs together), but you need to remember that you are an adult, that anyone you want to date must also be an adult, and that relationships are not something separate from the rest of the world. A good relationship is not an escape from adult life, but an equal partner who walks side by side with you through both of your adult lives.

Thank y'all so much for the advice, especially @BiomedicalPHD!!! The weekend went overall okay, I think -- the very first PI interview was WEIRD and super formal (she had printed out a list of questions that she read from and took notes on my answers) so that threw me off quite a bit, but the other 3 PIs that I talked to afterward had much more casual conversations. Fingers crossed that the first one doesn't affect my chances too drastically :/ But at least I now know what to expect for the rest of my interview trips!

I know this is probably my anxiety rearing its ugly head, but I'm going to my first interview tomorrow (!!!) and am suddenly consumed with existential dread. Most of this is along the lines of knowing that I'm a good writer and I was proud of my SoP, but I tend to be awkward in person and I never feel confident in one-on-one conversations, especially interviews. I'm just terrified that these professors will be expecting something good based on my SoP and will be so disappointed when they meet me in real life. D:

I know this is probably my anxiety rearing its ugly head, but I'm going to my first interview tomorrow (!!!) and am suddenly consumed with existential dread. Most of this is along the lines of knowing that I'm a good writer and I was proud of my SoP, but I tend to be awkward in person and I never feel confident in one-on-one conversations, especially interviews. I'm just terrified that these professors will be expecting something good based on my SoP and will be disappointed when they meet me in real life. I guess I don't really have much of a question, but was this something you dealt with when you were applying / how do you get over the nerves and "stage fright"?

Congratulations!!! I can't personally weigh in on this at all, but you might want to consider posting this in the sub-forum "Decisions, Decisions" which is specifically for this type of question -- you might get more answers there Sounds like you have a lot of great choices though, and I'm excited for you!

Also some schools post when their interview weekends tend to be on their application sites!

Official rejection emails from Columbia and UCSD neuro programs today, so that's fun... Actually it's pretty nice that they sent an email instead of just ghosting, and it wasn't unexpected since their interview invites went out before the holidays.

From what I've heard from other people who called the schools, UCSD and Columbia are done sending invites :/ Sorry friend, but for what it's worth I'm in the same boat and commiserate with you 100%

Hey there! I moved across the country by myself for undergrad and didn't know anyone in the area when I started, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made, and I'm planning to do the same this fall for grad school. While grad school probably won't be as cohesive of an environment as, for example, undergrad freshman year, there will definitely be events and opportunities for you to meet people in your new city! For me, making friends quickly -- especially friends who grew up in or are familiar with the area -- was the best way to start feeling really comfortable.

There are some nice ankle boots out there that you can wear with dress pants but also are warm and have some traction! Depending on where you're interviewing that might be good enough for walking around outside (although if you're in the midwest or northeast probably not).

I think it's all the departments though, not just one. I applied to neuro and I talked to a friend who's interviewing for pharmacology and got the same email ... so 250 people isn't /that/ scary given that there are 6 departments and according to data I've seen for other neuro programs, each department inviting 40ish people to interview is pretty normal