siliconchins

We may not really know until awards are made. However, on page 7 of this document that came out in December ( https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R45009.pdf ) it says they requested a budget that would support 1,000 new fellows. This is also seen on page three of this document: https://www.nsf.gov/about/budget/fy2018/pdf/46_fy2018.pdf

I was in the shower when my girlfriend saw the acceptance pop up in my email. She came screaming into the room, making me think something was wrong and jump out of the tub dripping wet. I got everything wet and scared my cats to death, but it was worth it for the relief of knowing that I'll be getting a PhD from a great program no matter what happens in my future interviews. And then I checked the email again and again to make sure I wasn't misinterpreting it :P. 

Accepted to Northwestern DGP! Very excited!

I was in the shower when my girlfriend saw the acceptance pop up in my email. She came screaming into the room, making me think something was wrong and jump out of the tub dripping wet. I got everything wet and scared my cats to death, but it was worth it for the relief of knowing that I'll be getting a PhD from a great program no matter what happens in my future interviews. And then I checked the email again and again to make sure I wasn't misinterpreting it :P. 

Accepted to Northwestern DGP! Very excited!

Accepted to Northwestern DGP! Very excited!

Accepted to Northwestern DGP! Very excited!

Thanks! 
The whole interview weekend was really laid back. Dinner on Thursday night was with some students and faculty, and they give a short presentation about the history of the program and the area. There is a time for everyone to mingle and get to know each other, and some other icebreaker activities later on led by Steve Anderson. 
On Friday, Steve and Nick met us at the hotel and led us to breakfast and presentations about the program, after which students led us to our first interview. I met with five faculty members for 30 mins each, and they were mostly relaxed conversations. I would say that you should definitely prep a short ~5min blurb about your research interests as I was nervous for my first interview and probably would have forgotten to mention things without the prep. 
They mainly asked about my prior research experience, why I was choosing to do a PhD, and what I wanted to accomplish afterwards. It's hard to pinpoint a specific type of interview though because each faculty interview was slightly different - for example, one person I met with wanted to know how my research interests meshed with his work, and gave me some hypothetical situations to gauge my response. I would say the best prep for this kind of thing would be to read the research on each person you're meeting (info I got maybe  2 days before the actual interviews) and maybe some abstracts of recently published papers. I wouldn't go much beyond that though, because they don't really expect you to know the specifics about what they do, and won't "test" you on your knowledge. They just want to make sure you can speak intelligently about your previous work and about science in general. 

Thanks! 
The whole interview weekend was really laid back. Dinner on Thursday night was with some students and faculty, and they give a short presentation about the history of the program and the area. There is a time for everyone to mingle and get to know each other, and some other icebreaker activities later on led by Steve Anderson. 
On Friday, Steve and Nick met us at the hotel and led us to breakfast and presentations about the program, after which students led us to our first interview. I met with five faculty members for 30 mins each, and they were mostly relaxed conversations. I would say that you should definitely prep a short ~5min blurb about your research interests as I was nervous for my first interview and probably would have forgotten to mention things without the prep. 
They mainly asked about my prior research experience, why I was choosing to do a PhD, and what I wanted to accomplish afterwards. It's hard to pinpoint a specific type of interview though because each faculty interview was slightly different - for example, one person I met with wanted to know how my research interests meshed with his work, and gave me some hypothetical situations to gauge my response. I would say the best prep for this kind of thing would be to read the research on each person you're meeting (info I got maybe  2 days before the actual interviews) and maybe some abstracts of recently published papers. I wouldn't go much beyond that though, because they don't really expect you to know the specifics about what they do, and won't "test" you on your knowledge. They just want to make sure you can speak intelligently about your previous work and about science in general. 

I brought a notebook with me to take notes. I didn't actually write anything during the interview but I wrote some bullets right after so I didn't forget anything. There isn't a specific dress code, but they do say casual on their website. They mention that jeans are very acceptable, but most of guys there (including me) wore some nice slacks and a sweater. There were a few people with sports coats or wearing suits, but I thought that was too formal for the tone of the weekend. The women wore nice pants and blouse or a button up. Just remember that it's winter in Chicago, so dress accordingly! 

Thanks! 
The whole interview weekend was really laid back. Dinner on Thursday night was with some students and faculty, and they give a short presentation about the history of the program and the area. There is a time for everyone to mingle and get to know each other, and some other icebreaker activities later on led by Steve Anderson. 
On Friday, Steve and Nick met us at the hotel and led us to breakfast and presentations about the program, after which students led us to our first interview. I met with five faculty members for 30 mins each, and they were mostly relaxed conversations. I would say that you should definitely prep a short ~5min blurb about your research interests as I was nervous for my first interview and probably would have forgotten to mention things without the prep. 
They mainly asked about my prior research experience, why I was choosing to do a PhD, and what I wanted to accomplish afterwards. It's hard to pinpoint a specific type of interview though because each faculty interview was slightly different - for example, one person I met with wanted to know how my research interests meshed with his work, and gave me some hypothetical situations to gauge my response. I would say the best prep for this kind of thing would be to read the research on each person you're meeting (info I got maybe  2 days before the actual interviews) and maybe some abstracts of recently published papers. I wouldn't go much beyond that though, because they don't really expect you to know the specifics about what they do, and won't "test" you on your knowledge. They just want to make sure you can speak intelligently about your previous work and about science in general. 

Accepted to Northwestern DGP! Very excited!

Someone on this thread mentioned that UChicago cancer bio hadn't sent out invites yet, but I ran into someone this past weekend at an interview event that already received an interview invite before the holidays. I'm not sure whether they are completely done or still reviewing applications. 

Just heard from BU CMB today!

Just got an e-mail from the University of South Carolina with an admission offer!! I am so glad even though it is not my first option, at least I know that in August I will be in US again, just don't know where yet haha

Most bio programs will only accept applicants post-interview. That being said, I know that some programs look at international applicants after selecting through their domestic pool. I wouldn't treat anything as a rejection until you get official notice. 

Congrats on the interview! I don't think it's necessary to email back, just fill out the form so they can schedule you. 

I'm an undergrad at UChicago and my lab knows I'm applying, so they'd tell me if invites were out, and so far I'm not aware of any. But in any case you're right that the cancer program has their own admission committee and so on, so in that sense they are pretty separate. 
Also unsolicited information: so far as I heard on last Friday, the invites for immunology at UChicago also didn't seem to have gone out. I guess this year the biomedical cluster are just starting late...

Just got MIT invite!

Just heard from Boston College Biology via email for interview 2/1.

Yeah, my friend who got into DGP last year got his invite in January, so I was pretty surprised to hear back so soon.

Yeah, my friend who got into DGP last year got his invite in January, so I was pretty surprised to hear back so soon.

I keep seeing interview invites for Northwestern DGP and feeling less confident about my app.  It was worth a shot at least!

Anyone know the post-interview stats for Yale BBS, Princeton MolBio, or Northwestern DGP?