siliconchins

Fastlane just went down. Only a few hours now folks.

Holy sheet y'all good luck to everyone

I was accepted to MIT grad with a GPA of ~3.5, although I will probably say it was one of the less important parts of my application.

I don't think she'll have to justify that degree choice. Have her go for whichever one interests her more in terms of coursework and research. I started off as a premed student, and decided to pursue a PhD in the beginning of my senior year. I was very open about that fact, brought it up in both my personal statement/statement of purpose and during some interviews. There was no negative perception, or any sort of assumption that I had "failed" in any way.

Right, I'm asking if the email from previous years contained the decision. Sorry for the confusion!

Did they send an email containing the result or do you have to access fastlane to see whether you received it?

Congrats man! The nice thing about choosing between Harvard and MIT is that there are so many things in common between them (location, prestige, and quality of training). I applied to the Biology PhD, not to Microbiology, so there may be some differences in our experiences. Personally, I only applied to rotation based programs as I'm not entirely sure what specific research topic I'd like to pursue. When I was deciding between programs, MIT stood out to me in a big way due to the fact that they front load the coursework in the first semester. From what students have told me, it really helps to build a strong knowledge foundation, foster cohort camaraderie, and let you focus more on choosing the right lab in the spring. Personally, I think that this will let me have an easier transition into grad school as I haven't taken any classes in the past 2 years. The shorter rotation times (4wks vs 8-10wks at other programs) also appealed to me as I think that this system really emphasizes the fact that you should spend the time focusing on fit rather than trying to complete a small project. If I don't mesh well with a lab, I definitely would not want to be stuck there for longer than necessary, and I think that fit can be well-determined during the course of a month. While there are a lot of opportunities for industry work, I definitely didn't get the sense that the program was biased in any way. I think that the program provides a lot of support and training whether you decide to pursue industry or academic work after the PhD. Are you worried that the lab at Harvard will not work out? Is it relatively easy to find a new adviser if things go south? In the end, it's the mentor that matters, but I personally wouldn't feel comfortable without having at least 2-3 potential advisers in a program. Either way I don't think there is a wrong choice here. See you in Cambridge/Boston!

So if it's a release on Friday, we would expect maintenance notice(s) by tomorrow right?

You guys make the waiting a bit easier lol

Wouldn't that mean they would wait until this coming Tuesday? Seems kinda strange that they would buck the trend of releasing on Tues/Fri.

Congrats all!

In previous alerts, people were notified during the early morning which is why I'm hesitant that today is the day.

Friday mornings come and gone, looks like another few days at least of waiting.

No second maintenance at 10pm EST. Looks like tomorrow may be a bust

If gandalf says so you know it's gotta be true

Maybe they're just parroting back what it says in the solicitation?

Man I hope you're right. Even if it doesn't seem like it, it won't stop me from feeling like the results will be out tomorrow.

Lol that's actually hilarious

Same here. My funding isn't really dependent on outside funding (and in fact won't even change if I do get it), so I'd like to just know once and for all and get this process over with.

Dang guys, I'm really hoping for the announcement on Friday, whether good or bad. I'd like to know for sure so I can finally get my boss to stop asking me every morning whether they've released winners yet T.T

So GRFP awards may not be limited to ~1000 this year (as suggested by Page 7 and Page 3 of these documents). A user on this reddit thread emailed in, and was told that the number of awards is still at ~2000. Here's hoping that it's the higher number!

I would email them and ask how many people usually get off the waitlist/your position to gauge how likely it is.

As much as I'd like to tell you to come join me at MIT, it seems from what you're writing that you have already decided that Stanford is a better fit for you. Once you get to a certain point, it doesn't really matter where you go, only that you put out good work. If you feel that the faculty choices, mentoring style, and overall focus of Stanford over MIT, then you should go there. Also keep in mind that people like Bob Weinberg are no longer taking students. Since I didn't apply to Stanford and am not too familiar with the program, I can only give my perspective about MIT. From my point of view though, once you get to the level of MIT, Stanford, UCSF, Harvard, etc., you don't really have to worry about prestige.

Lol just keep in mind that the people who post on gradcafe are a self selected population and definitely not representative of the whole.

Funding can be different for international applicants, especially at public universities where you might not be eligible for certain types of government funding (as is the case with some external funding opportunities as well). Generally, stipend support for PhDs are guaranteed by the department or graduate school as long as you remain in good standing and can require additional responsibilities such as a TA or RA-ship. Research funding is more likely dependent on the lab you join. Since the policies can differ so drastically from school to school and even from department to department, it is probably in your best interest to contact the programs you are interested in to get the specific details.