DRMF

Some do, many don't. Within those that do send rejection emails, some send it at the time they send out interview invites, and some send it at the very end of the cycle in March/April.

Dr. Google says https://science.gmu.edu/academics/departments-units/systems-biology/admissions https://graduateadmissions.wvu.edu/academics/graduate-programs/biology-d

I have no additional knowledge on Rockefeller either, sorry. The way I understand their "Guide" is just that rotations are not required. I don't necessarily see that as saying "you should contact faculty members before applying" - usually application instructions are pretty clear; if they program actively wants you to contact potential advisors in advance, they would usually state that directly. It sounds like you already established contact with your POI - did he say anything like "happy to have you rotate in my lab if you are admitted"? Or did he discuss any open projects in the lab with you? It's true that a single faculty member rarely has the power to decide whether you'll get in, and what he was trying to say by stating that fact would depend on the tone/context. I think at this point it's the most helpful for you to start a separate thread just about Rockefeller so that others familiar with the program can give you more relevant help.

Hi - my general impression (probably from personal anecdotes) of Rockefeller is pretty international-friendly, though I'm not sure if there are differences between their own phd vs the Tri-ins program. I couldn't find official data on their website, but here are two other websites with references: https://www.usnews.com/education/best-global-universities/rockefeller-university-195049# https://www.collegefactual.com/colleges/rockefeller-university/student-life/international/

Some programs may be more willing to offer reimbursement if they know it's helping their own future student rather than someone still uncommitted. There are plenty of reasons to visit in person after accepting the offer, they just might not apply to you - checking out school facilities and connecting with individual PIs, checking out rental options, also seeing schooling and employment options if you're bringing family, etc. I personally do not see most programs offering funding for visiting, unless it's stated somewhere in their recruitment agenda as an optional activity - or if they just really really want you specifically.

Schools that I know are international friendly (in non-COVID times): UTSW, Sloan Kettering, Weill Cornell. Potentially also: WashU (Washington University in St. Louis) and UChicago. Harvard probably but I'm not sure about all bio programs. UCs are notorious for being low on international admits. The year I applied UC Berkeley's website had a bolded line stating there are *very few* spots for international students. My undergrad PI spent 6 years as a post doc at Stanford and said he never saw a single international Immunology student - I have not fact-checked that myself. Most school websites show international student %s somewhere. Below is the list I compiled for myself when I applied. Most numbers were for the specific program I applied to and not their entire biosciences. "OK" means >30% I think. Stanford low Harvard 34% MIT OK Yale 30% WUSTL 30% UCLA 20% Columbia OK UT SW OK Baylor College of Medicine 33% Sloan Kettering OK Weill Cornell 46% Einstein College of Medicine 30% NYU OK

I don't know about biotech jobs. I think in academia UTSW is well-respected; people may debate about it being top 20, but I don't expect anyone to say it's an unknown or no-name school. I interviewed there and met multiple faculty members who did postdocs in or moved from other well-known places (the 2 examples I now explicitly remember were from UChicago and UCSF iirc). The school is less popular than it deserves science-wise, because people usually want to live on the coasts rather than in Texas. The specifics will depend on your specific area of study, and where (location-wise) you're hoping to get job offers from. I'd imagine UTSW is probably better recognized in Texas, but I could totally be wrong (in fact, I've been told that the further you are from Boston, the more impressive Harvard sounds lol). I don't really know if it'd be considered a near ivy, because I don't think people generally rank grad schools in "ivy" terms. At the end of the day, if you do an amazing PhD under an advisor well-known in their field, and graduate with two first-author publications in Nature, the school's overall prestige becomes essentially irrelevant; in fact, it's you who then bring prestige to the school. If, however, you do a somewhat average PhD, then people will have to judge you by thinking "well their publications aren't amazing, but hey they did graduate from X". You probably already know this, but having it spelled out to me did make my mind clearer when I was considering grad school choices myself. Anyway, congrats and enjoy your interviews!

Probably needs a bit more context... does the program normally do rotations? Is this form of "early" admissions a part of the program's setup? Usually PIs reach out to tell you that they'd love to have you join, but that just means they want you to rotate and then hopefully stay. Most bio programs have a required number of rotations anyway.

I'm in no way trying to take the joy of online shopping away from you, but just dropping in to say that when I did interviews (in person) I didn't wear any "business casual", and still to this day do not own a blazer lol. My go-to was knitted/sweater dresses in muted colors. I interviewed with 4 schools and was probably among the least dressed up for all of them. Ended up with offers from all 4 ?‍♀️

I sent thank-you emails to all interviewers, usually the Mon/Tue after the interview weekend. Emailing the director wouldn't hurt either. Regardless, I'd say that the emails are just niceties and really wouldn't change your chances in most cases. Some admissions results come out super fast, so some of my emails actually ended up being sent after I got accepted lol

I got that when I applied 2 years ago, also moved from Immuno to Cancer. I then got an interview from Cancer, which conflicted with other interviews I already committed to, and in the end didn't happen since I got into places I liked better. I mostly worked on tumor immunology at the time of application, so it could just be a general thing they do for tumor immunology-oriented applicants, if that applies to you.

Essentially all US grad school offers have the same reply deadline from you (April 15th). There are exceptions, but generally that's the national deadline. https://cgsnet.org/april-15-resolution

What exactly is this money referring to? Not personally relevant, and I'm not familiar with post bacc programs, but I've just never heard anyone say having to pay a lot of money for them?

A few potential factors, some are wild guesses: - location (people like California). - the fact that Stanford Bioscience allows you to choose 3 programs under the umbrella and use the same application for them, so nominally the number of apps per individual (e.g. Genetics) program probably looks much higher than that of a standalone program elsewhere. - great outreach/advertising. Anecdotally, out of the ~dozen outside speakers my program invited over and had lunch with us (while I was a first year), the Stanford person was the only one who specifically asked which of the first years also interviewed at Stanford and how they liked the experience/why they didn't go there. - funding: the actual amount of money is probably comparable to other top tier programs, but I remember someone on TGC telling me at Stanford the program itself provides funding throughout your PhD years, so the PI doesn't directly pay for you being in their lab. I can imagine that making students feel like they have more power and are less "at someone's mercy" financially? - international students: probably a mix of international reputation (again outreach/marketing) and actual ability to support international students with private funding. I feel like in China, Stanford, Harvard, MIT etc. are equally well respected, but perhaps it's different in some other countries with a large applicant pool.

A couple schools have a checkbox on your phd application asking whether you'd like to be considered for their Master's program as well. I can't remember specifically which ones though. I don't think that tick would change your chances of admission either way.