LaurenEm

I too went in with wayyyy too bravado for an international student (Canadian), and applied to a very similar list of top-flight computational biology PhD programs. My academic profile, however, may have given me the edge I needed to eke out 2 interviews out of the 7. I was known to at least one of the faculty at the 2, so I'm not actually sure how much of them came down to prior networking versus the strength of my apps.I can summarize my stats in a following post if there's interest. It's very similar to thinhtran's, and we got interviews at the same NYC schools! I agree with @zuska in that 11 applications in 3 days sounds really rushed. My personal statement was written over the span of a month, and it was quite honestly crowd-sourced from a few people I trusted to provide me with unbiased opinions. I also ended up hating the process LOL, but it really forced me to evaluate why I was going after each program. One anecdotal point about the networking thing also happens to be what sold me on NYC schools. I went to a total of three Cold Spring Harbour conferences and hackathons, and my goodness did I like the people and research environment! I also loved that there were so many research institutions collaborating on projects I liked in a single city, and that enthusiasm really came across in my apps and the people I contacted. Good luck with the UConn interview! I've done both wet and dry work across many fields (and considered peacing it from academia altogether multiple times), so if you have any specific questions about where to direct your efforts next, feel free to PM me. I don't have too much advice, sorry! I specifically looked for programs that guaranteed tuition coverage and full stipends for internationals. To be quite honest, as a Canadian, I would recommend Canada for international students (no idea if that's where you're from). If you're not at top programs that guarantee 100% coverage in the US, it turns into a massive headache, one that I personally want no part of. Reputable Canadian programs mandate that professors will at least cover your stipend through their own funding or TAships, and up to a portion of your stipend as well.

Is anyone going to be at 1) the Weill Cornell CBM interview weekend starting next Sunday or 2) the NYU Department of Biology interview February 27-1? If so, PM me because I'll be there the day before each of them starts and it would be great to meet and hang out with my fellow nervous wrecks before game time!

Congratulations! I had the same concern when applying and TBH if I could have a do-over I'd probably apply for Einstein instead (much larger group of CB faculty there). I have a list of potential PIs with maybe computational projects I can PM you later Questions about your invite: When did it go out, did it seem personalized, and are you also international? Also, I saw in another thread that you'd posted about Columbia. I have received absolutely from them too, and I emailed them about the status of my app last week ?

Has anyone else heard back from Columbia C2B2 or biomedical informatics? I saw a round of invites in December, and then a round of rejections in January. But I still haven't heard anything. Also dying inside because I saw Rockefeller has started sending out invites, and still nothing from Harvard BIG. Is this the real life? ?

Thanks for starting this! I'm a Canadian currently completing an MSc in Bioinformatics at a Canadian institution. As an international student, I may have aimed too high this application cycle, but I'm hoping something pans out! Congratulations to everyone who got an interview invite, and see you soon if those are at Weill Cornell or NYU! No News: Harvard | Bioinformatics and Integrative Genomics Columbia | Systems Biology, Biomedical Informatics --- For the above two, does anyone have information about ongoing invitations? I've seen some go out already, but haven't received a rejection email yet. My fingers are crossed so hard ? --- Rockefeller | Biosciences Interviews: Weill Cornell | Tri-institutional Computational Biology and Medicine | 2/10 - 2/12 NYU | GSAS Biology | 2/28 - 3/1 or 3/7 - 3/8 Rejected: UCSF | Integrated Program in Quantitative Biology Icahn School at Mount Sinai | Biomedical Sciences