BiomedicalPHD

At this level, the Ivy League name does not matter much at all. The success and prestige of individual programs at the universities and individual scientists matter significantly more. In terms of scientific prestige, I would put UPenn and Michigan at the same level as I really don't think you can go wrong with either in terms of science.

I think a perfect balance is dress pants + button down (tie optional) + sweater/blazer. A full suit will be too dressy some places whereas anything less than that may risk being a bit too casual. Also: This is only for interview day! Any other day you should be casual, but still nicely dressed.

Nothing impresses us more than if you can give a mini-chalk talk during an interview and do it clearly and concisely. I second the "do not bring handouts" sentiment. I do not personally mind, but I know a few PIs who look on this unfavorably.

The on-site interview is really for you. You won't get dinged in terms of admissions for doing a Skype interview, but if you really are interested in the institution than I would highly recommend you visit in person in order to get a better feel for the personal and research fit. I would ask the first school for alternate dates, especially because you will not be altering airfare. Do not worry about this affecting your chances, as the person organizing the weekend and the admissions committee will be fully separate. This is very common, especially with schools that offer interviews early. I would personally try your hardest to attend all interviews in person so as to get the best feel for the programs.

Practice 1 minute, 3 minute, and 5 minute summaries of your research. Pick one project and be able to distill it down to three different time lengths and you will have zero problem! Additionally, identify what really excites you about your research and try to focus whatever you say around that.

A couple tidbits from an interviewer to hopefully make that dread go away (at least partially!): 1. It is 100% okay to be awkward during a one-on-one interview. In fact, many times the interviewer themselves will be feeling more awkward than you do. As long as you are able to talk enthusiastically about your science and are sincere in doing so, you will be fine. There are scientists at all levels from PhD students to Nobel Laureates who are awkward, and the interview process itself is awkward and uncomfortable in general! 2. I have never heard of someone being rejected post-interview because they are awkward or uncomfortable or nervous in one-on-one conversations. The most common reasons that pop up would be you cannot actually talk about the research you listed in your SOP, you are not friendly or even remotely cordial with the interviewer, you say something that is an immediate red flag (such as questioning why you want to do a PhD or saying something racist), or you do not show enthusiasm for pursuing a PhD, science, etc. 3. We love it when an interviewee really gets excited about something during an interview. It can be your research, the PIs research, a hobby, etc. If you can latch on to something that excites you, you can really cut through that awkwardness. If it is something in your own research, that is especially beneficial as you will be able to bring it up in each interview. 4. If you are a coffee drinker, do not drink a ton of coffee before you interviews. It sounds weird, but that can really exacerbate the nerves before a one-on-one interview. 5. The interviews themselves are more like conversations. There isn't a preset list of questions that we ask in a row. I have three questions that I will always try to ask and let the conversation develop from there. It doesn't always go that way, but even with the most awkward interviewees (think someone shaking and barely able to speak they are so nervous) I find you can always cut through any awkwardness as long as the interviewee actually wants to be there and has an interest in doing a PhD at that institution. One final thing: Don't get discouraged if your first PI interview doesn't go 100% perfect. My first PI interview I attended years ago went truly horrifically (I developed a stutter I was so nervous), but I still managed to get into (and attend) that institution. We expect you to be nervous at first. Every PI interview you do, you will get better and better at it. A lot of the times, in the beginning we ask the recruits how they feel and they are universally terrified, whereas by the end of the the first set of interviews they find them relatively relaxing and sometimes even fun. I hope this helps a little!

Sounds like you did exceptionally well! Asking questions when you feel a lull coming is a great way to keep the interview moving along. If you are talking with the interviewer for the entire time of the interview, including non-science interests, you did something right.

That should be sufficient. As long as you know what each PI is interested in then you should be fine. If there is a PI that really interests you, you can read through one or two of their recent papers and come up with a couple questions, but that is not expected of you.

MIT Biology is known as one of the more competitive programs to get accepted post-interview. I don't have any information about this year, but 2014 post-interview acceptance rate was around 50%. It will vary year to year, however, due to previous class size, funding availability, quality of applicants, etc. but I would assume it is in the 40-60% range.

Since you are Cellular and Molecular Biology, I think this response I wrote on the Biology forum will help: A couple additional answers to your questions from my own experience as an interviewee and interviewer: 1. You don't have to prepare incredibly compelling questions for graduate students and faculty, just having anything is a positive in their eyes. But if you want to get a good glimpse into what they think, there are a few questions you should try to ask if appropriate. For graduate students, you should ask about: Their thoughts - both positive AND negative - on the program (such as the BBS program), institution (such as Harvard), and the city (such as Cambridge/Boston) What they do outside of science/lab What opportunities are available to graduate students - this includes teaching, internships, non-traditional paths, etc. What a typical day in lab is like for them - this will vary student to student and lab to lab, but can be revealing about the culture at an institution If there is anything else they wished they had known before starting graduate school (in general or in that specific PhD program) For faculty, you should ask about: What they believe the greatest strengths and weaknesses are of the institution The research environment at the institution - especially in regards to collaboration (a lot of PIs love to talk to about how collaborative they are/their university is) Specific questions about their research (if you have any) Their expectations for a graduate student/what an ideal graduate student is to them If there is anything that they can talk about other than the research that makes the program/institution unique. If you look at graduate school interview prep websites, there will be a lot of "recommended" questions that include asking about graduation outcomes, fellowships, time to graduation, publishing, etc. It is okay to ask questions such as these, but a lot of this information will be covered in the introduction/orientation each program gives. In my opinion, you are better suited to ask questions such as those listed above. 2. The most basic biomedical PhD interview weekend is structured over 3 or 4 days: Thursday: Arrive + welcome dinner Friday and Saturday: Interviews, research talks and poster sessions, dinner with faculty one night and dinner with students another night, something fun in the city one day, and a student-hosted party or bar night Sunday: Departure This gives you a lot of time to learn about science, talk to current students and faculty, get a glimpse of what the city is like, and make an impression. The actual events will vary interview to interview, but this is what the majority of major research institutions do. 3. If you talk to a lot of graduate students and faculty and are truly enthusiastic to learn about a program/institution (and science in general), you will come out of a weekend with everything you need to make a good decision. You most likely won't like every interview, but you will start to internally rank them over the course of interview season. Try to go into each interview with an open mind too! Sorry this is so lengthy - I hope it helps though! --- Some recommendations from a current student interviewer. This is just from my personal experiences interviewing and discussing with admissions committees. 1. Be prepared to answer WHY you want to do a PhD in general. If you are coming straight from undergraduate, be especially prepared to justify why you believe you are ready to enter directly into a PhD program instead of taking a year or two off. 2. Have justifications for why you applied to a specific institution and program. Being able to pinpoint specific faculty, resources, graduate outcomes, etc. all help show you are applying to a program for a particular reason and not just because it is ranked highly. 3. Be able to talk about your research clearly and concisely. If you do not know something, do not be afraid to say you do not know. I would rather have someone answer "I do not know" 10 times than try to make up an answer once. It is also helpful to be able to identify specific things you have taken away from each experience. Also, if you have multiple experiences, it is best to focus on the one you are most comfortable talking about rather than trying to give equal time to all of your research. Above all, be enthusiastic about your own research, research in general, the program you are applying to, and pursuing a PhD. If you can talk about your research and genuinely seem excited about it, then that will come across to us and we will remember it more than if you can answer every single technical question flawlessly. It is okay if you are nervous and it is okay if you can't answer every question - it is not okay if you are just going through the motions. 4. For faculty interviews, don't worry about knowing their work inside and out. If you want, you can read a couple abstracts from their most recent papers + look at their lab websites, but anything beyond that is not expected. 5. Prepare questions! They can be general questions about graduate school, specific questions about a PIs research, etc., but do not just sit there blankly if you are asked if you have any further questions. 6. If you have a student interview in addition to faculty interviews, be forewarned that at many schools this interview will be weighted alongside your other interviews. This means you need to maintain professionalism and decorum. 7. You ARE being evaluated at all times, but 90% of the evaluation that goes into the final decision is done during the interviews. However, there are really only three things you can do that will get you immediately disqualified (and yes, I have seen each of these happen at least once): (1) Making sexist, racist, or homophobic remarks, (2) falling asleep during an interview, and (3) aggressively hitting on current students or PIs to the point of harassment. Every year, without fail, there are at least three recruits who do one of these things (usually #1 or #3) and are disqualified from consideration. 8. It is okay to drink alcohol if you are someone who likes to drink alcohol. It is okay to abstain from alcohol if you are someone who likes to abstain from alcohol. It is NOT okay to get belligerently drunk and make bigoted remarks or harass current students or other recruits. I would recommend knowing your limits and what type of drinker you are - we want you to have fun but try not to embarrass yourself. Believe it or not, we have accepted people who have gotten black out drunk and thrown up at recruitment parties, but do not put yourself into that situation. 9. Dress to impress for your interview day. A full suit is unnecessary for guys, but some nice slacks, a good button down, and a blazer will suit you well for all interviews. Gals, do not wear heels - you will seriously regret it. For the rest of the weekend, feel free to wear whatever is comfortable. 10. Have fun! All participating faculty and students go into the interview weekends trying to recruit EVERYONE. We want everyone to love our school and our program and want as many people to attend as possible. Talk to as many faculty and students as possible, be engaged, and generally look like you want to be there and you will find the biggest challenge will be deciding where you actually want to go from all of your options. Getting the interview is the hard part - we interview around 8-10% of applicants and accept around 75% of those interviewed. If you have gotten an interview, you have all the qualifications to get accepted - we just need to make sure that you look as good in person as you are on paper.

I would recommend against it. Unless there is a specific PI you have been in contact with before and want to reestablish contact with them, it will be of no benefit to you to reach out beforehand.

A couple extra thoughts on this: At every interview you will run into a whole spectrum of people dressing casually to formal. Really, as long as you aren't on either extreme (such as wearing jeans and a t-shirt or a full tuxedo), you will be fine. I personally wore slacks and a button down without a tie to all my interviews and didn't feel too casual, although I think adding a blazer is a good look. In general, people will be dressing more casual if you're interviewing on the West Coast versus the East Coast and Midwest. You probably won't run into too many people wearing suits if you're interviewing at UCSD, UW, UCSF, etc., whereas you'll see more at Harvard, Cornell, Michigan, etc. Also, MD/PhD (and MD) interviews run a little more formal than PhD interviews too.

Some recommendations from a current student interviewer. This is just from my personal experiences interviewing and discussing with admissions committees. 1. Be prepared to answer WHY you want to do a PhD in general. If you are coming straight from undergraduate, be especially prepared to justify why you believe you are ready to enter directly into a PhD program instead of taking a year or two off. 2. Have justifications for why you applied to a specific institution and program. Being able to pinpoint specific faculty, resources, graduate outcomes, etc. all help show you are applying to a program for a particular reason and not just because it is ranked highly. 3. Be able to talk about your research clearly and concisely. If you do not know something, do not be afraid to say you do not know. I would rather have someone answer "I do not know" 10 times than try to make up an answer once. It is also helpful to be able to identify specific things you have taken away from each experience. Also, if you have multiple experiences, it is best to focus on the one you are most comfortable talking about rather than trying to give equal time to all of your research. Above all, be enthusiastic about your own research, research in general, the program you are applying to, and pursuing a PhD. If you can talk about your research and genuinely seem excited about it, then that will come across to us and we will remember it more than if you can answer every single technical question flawlessly. It is okay if you are nervous and it is okay if you can't answer every question - it is not okay if you are just going through the motions. 4. For faculty interviews, don't worry about knowing their work inside and out. If you want, you can read a couple abstracts from their most recent papers + look at their lab websites, but anything beyond that is not expected. 5. Prepare questions! They can be general questions about graduate school, specific questions about a PIs research, etc., but do not just sit there blankly if you are asked if you have any further questions. 6. If you have a student interview in addition to faculty interviews, be forewarned that at many schools this interview will be weighted alongside your other interviews. This means you need to maintain professionalism and decorum. 7. You ARE being evaluated at all times, but 90% of the evaluation that goes into the final decision is done during the interviews. However, there are really only three things you can do that will get you immediately disqualified (and yes, I have seen each of these happen at least once): (1) Making sexist, racist, or homophobic remarks, (2) falling asleep during an interview, and (3) aggressively hitting on current students or PIs to the point of harassment. Every year, without fail, there are at least three recruits who do one of these things (usually #1 or #3) and are disqualified from consideration. 8. It is okay to drink alcohol if you are someone who likes to drink alcohol. It is okay to abstain from alcohol if you are someone who likes to abstain from alcohol. It is NOT okay to get belligerently drunk and make bigoted remarks or harass current students or other recruits. I would recommend knowing your limits and what type of drinker you are - we want you to have fun but try not to embarrass yourself. Believe it or not, we have accepted people who have gotten black out drunk and thrown up at recruitment parties, but do not put yourself into that situation. 9. Dress to impress for your interview day. A full suit is unnecessary for guys, but some nice slacks, a good button down, and a blazer will suit you well for all interviews. Gals, do not wear heels - you will seriously regret it. For the rest of the weekend, feel free to wear whatever is comfortable. 10. Have fun! All participating faculty and students go into the interview weekends trying to recruit EVERYONE. We want everyone to love our school and our program and want as many people to attend as possible. Talk to as many faculty and students as possible, be engaged, and generally look like you want to be there and you will find the biggest challenge will be deciding where you actually want to go from all of your options. Getting the interview is the hard part - we interview around 8-10% of applicants and accept around 75% of those interviewed. If you have gotten an interview, you have all the qualifications to get accepted - we just need to make sure that you look as good in person as you are on paper. I hope this helps! I'm sure I'll be seeing a few of you in the coming months.

TakeruK hit it right on the head. This will be an interview with a current graduate student and will be slightly different than your PI interviews. It is really your chance to ask a student one-on-one about any concerns you may have about the program, graduate life, etc. As someone conducting these interviews for my program, I will emphasize that while it will be a different format from your PI interviews and will be more casual, you are still be evaluated and it will be weighted alongside your "official" interviews by the committee. It is important to maintain professionalism and continue to bring positive energy. You have no idea how many interviewees relax during this stage and make a bad impression.