virusologii

Absolutely not a neuro only school. There is an extensive neurobiology/neuroscience program, but by no means is that the majority. We have departments in Cell Biology, Developmental Biology, Immunology, Microbiology, Cancer, etc. The program is an open program as well, so if you start in cancer biology, you can switch to neuroscience, or systems biology, or immunology. It's very open and integrative.

Hi everyone, so I just started graduate school, started my first rotation (going pretty well). I start thinking about my next rotations, and start emailing some of the people who I really loved their research topics. First replies that they are moving to a new university next month. Second replies that they are moving to a new university next summer. Third replies that they just took a fellowship and will not be taking new students for the next two years. I've been doing exhaustive searches to try and find other people who I might be interested in working with, but these three, plus my current rotation, are who I came to my school for. I don't know what to do. I love my program, my cohort, everything else that I'm dealing with, but I'm having so much trouble here, and as far as I can tell there is no one else who works on this topic, other than the four PIs I just described. I don't want to transfer, but I don't know what to do.

I completely agree. As long as you are polite and respectful, he really can't fault you. Even if funding was certain, your decision is still your decision and there could be a multitude of other factors that are contributing to your desire to be at a particular program. As long as you thank him, you really should be fine.

I'm also a first-generation college student. My mom is a bookkeeper and my dad is a bike mechanic, but both were born in the United States. I'm so proud that I got into graduate school, and they're super proud and supportive of me too. They definitely don't really understand what grad school is, or what I do, but then again... neither do I! My hope is that once I finish graduate school, or maybe even in graduate school, since I am attending a fully funded program, I can send them money so they can go to college. My dad always wanted to go to school to become a teacher, but there was never the money. My mom would love to take classes, and I just want them to be able to have those opportunities since they gave so much to me! I'm originally from Alaska, and I lived there until I moved away for college. It's definitely a very different environment than the East Coast, and I find myself missing nature a lot. Despite that, I actually love cities and how busy everything always seems to be. I'm quite excited to start grad school, and very happy to see that there's a thread for others not coming from college-educated families.

I was literally at another interview (a very late one, the beginning of March) and was freaking out because everyone I knew had already heard from all or most of their programs, and I hadn't heard anything. I was just checking my email to see if I had anything from lab, and the acceptance popped up! I called my boyfriend and just burst into tears on the phone I was so relieved. He was a bit thrown off, but once I could talk he was super excited for me. I was just so happy, I think the energy translated to my last interview, which I also got an acceptance from a week later!

I live in Rahway, which is definitely a very Latin area. It's an easy commute by train to New Brunswick (~20 minutes). I love living here, but its definitely not as busy as a place like New York or LA. However, Rahway for me is excellent because I have a small community here, but I'm also only 30 minutes from NYC, so I can go into the city whenever I want for a night out or a day or whatever it is I need. I love the area, and I am so happy that I moved here, I've really enjoyed living in New Jersey, even though I had it on reputation that it was going to be awful. It's very easy to live and commute around the area, but I would say that if you are looking for Latin neighborhoods, New Brunswick is even better than Rahway. I live in Rahway because I like having a bit of distance between my personal life and the campus, and also because my boyfriend works in NYC. There are plenty of excellent areas around, though, and I actually have a friend who graduated with a masters from Rutgers Engineering. He really loved the department and the program, but I personally haven't had much interaction.

Hi! I'm also heading to NYU, but I'll be going to Sackler for Biomedical Science!

I had a really difficult choice between two excellent institutions. I really enjoyed interactions with one PI in particular from the institution I didn't join. I think that this person's research is fascinating, but in the end, the other program seemed a better training environment. However, I would like to stay in contact with this person as they are in the top of the field I would like to go into. How should I best approach this? I was thinking about sending an email saying that ....I enjoyed talking with them, I appreciated the discussion of their work, but unfortunately, I felt another program was a better overall fit and I hope we can stay in contact and I look forward to reading more of their work... Any advice?

I was beyond excited when I got into Yale's Microbiology department, but the next day I heard back from NYU that I had gotten into their's as well. These two programs were my favorite to interview at, and both had multiple people that I would be interested in rotating with. When accounting for living costs, it seems that the stipends are about equal. I love NYC, and would love to be in a city, but I also have lived in small cities/small towns my whole life and New Haven doesn't seem too bad at all. NYC does sound better to me, but Yale has a few more people I would be interested in working with. To be perfectly honest, it seems quite equal across the board. Any advice, or just comments from either current or past students or current or past residents? I would appreciate any input. I feel like I can't make a bad decision, but I want to make the best decision for me.

I got waitlisted to my #2 program, haven't hear back after interviews for my #1. I was wondering how to indicate to them that I'm really very interested in their program, and keep in contact with them, without giving false assurances that they are my number 1? Is inquiring about the waitlist process okay? We have a paper submitted where I am the second author, if it gets accepted, do I let them know? There were people who I would like to work with, who I didn't get to meet during the interview, is it still okay to contact them? I'm not really sure what kind of contact I should have, what's appropriate in this situation.

Funny enough, me too.

Oh jeez ?

I have some programs that have already had their interview weekends (and I was not invited) but haven't told me I've been rejected yet and it makes me so anxious. Like, we both know that I didn't get in, but if you tell me specifically that I didn't get in, then I can stop thinking about you.

I have a 3.7 from my second undergrad institution, but a 3.2 from my first (I am a transfer student), and I had interviews at Yale and Columbia as well as NYU. I was very worried about my GPA, but once I got to interviews, there were a lot of people in a similar range (3.5-3.7). I think programs tend to care more about your experience, personal statement, and letters of recommendation, though of course they look at GPA too. I would not worry if you have a 3.7 GPA. As long as you have a good application overall, you should be okay. And if you have a low GPA, then go and explain that in your personal statement. If you struggled in a class, but learned a lot about yourself, or about why you are in your field, then that number or letter becomes a part of your story. Don't overthink the numbers. EDIT: I know I'm not applying to philosophy programs, but I had a philosophy minor, and plenty of friends in grad school for philosophy, and they are backing me up on this!

This was me for my top 1. Oh man oh man