stacktrace

my interview will be in a couple of weeks probably. just paid the fees. SEVP sucks though.. a 200 bucks donation.

I got my I-20 two weeks ago.. gonna submit the visa forms to the US embassy next week. See you at Weyburn got a 2-bed apt, too.

I received a short email notice that confirms my payment, but nothing more. Btw, any info regarding I-20s? When are they going to send them out?

I got a spot in Weyburn Terrace three weeks ago. I accepted it, but I kinda dislike the terms of condition that force me to stay a whole year there without a chance to move out earlier. Do you guys know if they enforce these rules so strictly?

Hey shaileshdc, I was wondering, did you actually receive anything by postal mail? Have you paid any registration fees, etc? 'Cause I just filled the two forms (SIR and SLR) at URSA..

Hey folks, Congratz to all! I'm going to UCLA, too. Bioinformatics IDP. Btw, has anyone heard about when I-20's will be sent out? (I'm an international applicant) I submitted the SIR and the SLR at URSA, but nothing more. Did you receive anything by postal mail from the Graduate Division?

Anybody?

Thank you, beanbagchairs! I am really divided between the two programs. UCLA seems to have better overall reputation and better life sciences departments. However, USC is a leader in computational biology. Does anyone have first hand experience with these programs?

Hi folks! I was fortunate to be admitted at both with full funding. Which one do you think is better? USC have a large program (40+ faculty, 50 phd students) and some of the best people in the field. It's one of the oldest graduate programs in computational biology in the US (20+ years). Also, they claim that their alumni are highly successful (something I tend to believe). The faculty members have great connections to other top places in the field. The program itself is only 4.5 years long, which is good, but has no lab rotations (something I don't like). On the other hand, UCLA's program is young (3-4 years). They don't have alumni yet. The number of faculty is around 20. Yet, they received several big grants in the past years and are expanding fast. They seem to have good connections with the rest of the life science departments (which are better at UCLA compared to USC, at least according to the rankings). Also, they said that I'll need 5-6 years to finish. I was able to pinpoint POIs at both places. UCLA has a little advantage on this though. Since I live outside of the US, I have no chance to visit both campuses. Nor have I ever been there. I have to make a decision based only on the information I am gathering through the web. Please, let me know your opinion of both programs! Any thoughts would be VERY helpful! Thanks in advance!

I was wondering if anyone has heard something from adcoms of Bioinformatics and Systems Biology PhD program at UCSD or UC Irvine's Mathematical, Computational and Systems Biology PhD program? Has anyone received an invitation for an interview or any other feedback? PS. yes, I've checked the results page 10000 times..

Do you know if Berkeley is going to make phone interviews? What about internationals that cannot attend the interview weekends?

I also feel it that way. Being at 30, I am much more confident about the things I want to do. Also, I worked in the industry for several years after graduation and I collected relevant experience. I think that this makes me even more competitive.

Thank you, Strangefox! Indeed, the majority of the people are in their mid-twenties, but there were some notable exception. There was a person who was 30 and got admitted to Caltech with full funding. This gives me hope:) Anyway, do younger applicants have any true advantage?

I had an interview a couple of days ago and the professor mentioned that I am older than most of their applicants. I had to explain that I did not waste my time after I graduated and all. I am 30 now and I want to start a PhD in one of California's top schools (Stanford, Berkeley, UCSD, Caltech.. ) in biomedical informatics. I was just wondering if the adcomms from those universities put so much importance on your age. Is 30 already too late to start a PhD? I don't see it that way, but I would like to hear other people's opinions.

Hi gang! I submitted my application at Stanford and Berkeley more than a month ago. Stanford's deadline was 1. December and Berkeley's was 15. December. I haven't heard anything since. Has anyone a clue when they are going to send their invitations for interviews? Also, I am an international applicant. Does this matter with respect to the time they are going to contact me with their decision? I'm already starting to freak out..

Today I received my official GRE scores: Q 770 87 % V 600 86% AWA 5.0 84% It could be better, but I don't plan to retake. What do you think?

I just got back from my GRE exam. Unofficial scores: 770 Q 600 V I'm optimistic about the AWA section, since I managed to write a lot of coherent stuff. I switched my first choice to Stanford's Biomedical Informatics Ph.D. I think it reflects better my profile. Do you think I have a better chance to get in there?

Hey, I nailed TOEFL iBT at 112. I just found out my scores and I'm very happy I'm going to take GRE in a couple of months. It will be definitely harder for me since I'm not a native speaker. To be honest, GRE looks to me quite ridiculous. What are they testing? My IQ? If it was in my mothers tongue it would be a piece of cake, but now it turns into a really tough English exam (I mean the Verbal part, Math should be OK). Anyway, don't want to complain:) Just gonna study hard and see what happens.

Thank you so much for your reply, Moghi! I really appreciate it! I'm not very familiar with the way how American universities evaluate applicants and that was a great help for me! There are several things I don't like about Phd's in Computer Science. First, they are centered around CS (not surprisingly:D) which means that I have to take mostly CS courses and deepen my knowledge in this area. And my wish is to learn more about Biology and Biotechnology and apply CS or other engineering principles to them. I don't want really to focus that much on, say, improving existing algorithms or analyzing statistical methods. Second, many Phd's in CS (like the one in Berkeley) require GRE Subject in CS. Which.. frankly, I'm not that eager to take .. I think that it may actually diminish my chances if I don't score well. Anyway, I chose Bioengineering because it is the perfect intersection between Computer Science, Biology and Engineering that I'm looking for. And Berkeley is my first choice, because I really liked their program (which is joint with UCSF). And I'd definitely love to be part of their community. I was asking myself one more thing. Stanford and other universities require that you have taken some classes in Physics, Chemistry and Biology (always introductory classes) to be eligible to apply. I wonder how strict is this requirement. What if, for example, I haven't take a Chemistry class in my BS or MSc? Would they accept a class like this from the high school? Tokpe

Come on, guys! Any thoughts, ideas or suggestions will be appreciated!

Hi folks! I'm willing to apply for a PhD in Bioengineering this year. My top wish is UC Berkeley. What would you think my chances are given my profile? I graduated in Germany with a MSc in Computer Science from one of their best universities. My GPA is strong (I have not calculated it still, because it's a bit complicated, but it should be above 3.5). My research and work experience is: - 2 years in a Biotech company doing bioinformatics research. - 6 months as research scholar at the university in Germany working on a bioinformatics project. - 6 months at UPenn as research scholar - again bioinformatics. - 3 years at the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics (again bioinformatics and some wet lab). - 1 month at Harvard as research scholar doing bioinformatics . - 2 Semesters teaching Introduction to Comp. Biology at a major university. - 1 year in a bioinformatics company. - 2 years in a software company. I co-authored six scientific papers that were publish in journals with relatively high impact factors. I also attended two major conferences on bioinformatics. I did not take the TOEFL and GRE yet. Do you think I have a chance to get into Berkeley's Bioengineering PhD program? What should I score on GRE & TOEFL? I'm thinking to apply also to Stanford, UCLA, UC San Diego, U of Southern California, Caltech, UC Santa Cruz and UC Irvine. What do you think my chances are? Could you recommend me an University in California that has lower admission criteria which I could use as escape in case I don't get admitted to one of the above? Thank you all in advance for your advice!