Lemonsour123

@pyramidstuds congrats on UNC! I know you would get in somewhere as disappointed that I was that I didn't get in everywhere (haha what a dream), it is nice to have the decision basically made for me, and I get to go to an awesome program!

Well I got official rejections from UNC and Arizona, I'm assuming rejection from Illinois because people have already heard about admits and waitlists, and my friend at NYU said that this weekend is their prospective student weekend and only 2 bioanth students were admitted. So unless I magically get waitlisted and then accepted to NYU, I will be going to Ohio State! I'm just really glad that it has been one of my number 1 schools throughout this whole process, fingers crossed that I get an awesome fellowship! Congrats to everyone getting acceptances/interviews!

Ok so I talked to a friend who is in the PhD program at NYU and they said that around the top 5 bioanth candidates were invited to an interview weekend but that they thought that any Skype "interviews" before that were very informal.

I have no idea if NYU interviews are mandatory, and the inconsistent results on the page kinda make me think they aren't? Most programs with mandatory interviews have data every year where several people get interviews at a similar time, and those interviews seem to come from the grad program rather than the POI. This seems like just a POI wanting to talk to them further but I'm just guessing. Personally I'm hoping that because I had a phone call with my POI there before apps were due that I'm still in the running lol. For Illinois, I think rejections will come in the next few days. In previous years they come within a week of waitlists/acceptances on the results page. I have no idea why other schools don't send them out right away, its seriously annoying. The only thing I can think of is that they may want backups so that they aren't left with a smaller cohort than anticipated. Also if anyone is curious, my official acceptance letter for OSU just came today, 11 days after my unofficial acceptance. I know I was wondering when it would come so this might be useful for future students. Funding info won't come until the end of Feb so I have a while to wait for that.

@pyramidstuds So I went a little crazy and looked at all the decision dates from the past, it looks like waitlist decisions come out on the same day or right acceptances and rejections come slightly after that. So we may be on a second tier waitlist but I'm not really holding much hope at this point. The good news is that UIUC does tend to send rejections pretty soon after other decisions so at least we will know soon. You could ask through an email but I'm not sure where that will get you, they will probably just tell you that decisions will come soon.

Welcome @pyramidstuds! I'm sorry you went through that yesterday I will admit to eating a lot of ice cream last night over UIUC's implied decision. I think many decisions come down to fit, I've talked to my POI at Ohio a few times before, and honestly the fit with them and with the program is pretty perfect, while at UIUC my POI never even replied. Fit isn't just about talking to POI's however, and many people get in just because their projects work well with the department. While I'm sure you have good news coming your way soon, it might ease your panic to work on a solid backup plan. I know it helped me to look for CRM jobs or even just summer internships so that I knew I would have something if I didn't get in anywhere.

@perpetualalligator You would think that waiting gets easier after an acceptance but it still really sucks, I'm fully expecting a rejection from UIUC at this point but I just want to know. As for a waitlist response, I would thank them and reiterate your interest in the program but thats it unless you have incredible information to update (like a published paper). You don't want to annoy them too much lol

I'm wondering what it means that I haven't heard anything from UIUC...

Hi! The Ohio State acceptance was me!!! I totally didn't expect to hear anything back this early but my POI emailed me this afternoon. As you said it is an incredible relief to have such a great option already, I hope everyone hears back from their schools soon!

I studied for about 3 months using EmpowerGRE and taking every free practice test I could find. In my experience my real scores were very similar to the highest scores I was able to get on the practice tests. Powerprep 1: 158V 154Q Manhattan free: 161V 155Q Kaplan free: 158V 158Q Official guide 1: 159V 150Q Princeton free: 161V 151Q 5AW Official guide 2: 162V 151Q Powerprep 2: 166V 150Q Real test: 165V 159Q 5AW I was pretty upset with my last power prep quant score because I couldn't figure out why my score seemed to keep getting lower the more I studied. I was so shocked in the testing center when I got a 159, I think the test proctor thought I had bombed it lol. My score ranged from 158-166V 150-158Q which is an 8 point difference for both sections, luckily on the actual test I got pretty much my highest scores from that range. Obviously the power prep tests are the best and most realistic test you can take, however, my quant score was way higher then I scored on either power prep even though I took the second one a few days before my real test. I also recommend the Princeton free test as that one will actually grade a writing section which I found useful. Don't loose hope if your practice scores seem to be all over the place or even decreasing like mine did. Take a deep breath and you'll be fine. Also, while I would have loved a 160+ quant score, in my field verbal scores are looked at much more heavily and I figured I would be competitive with anything over 155. Know the score ranges for you schools and field, and don't let other people's perfect scores scare you.

I'm applying for bioanth PhD programs at NYU, Colorado Boulder, Nevada Reno, Ohio State, Arizona State, UNC, and UIUC. I still have to submit my Colorado and Nevada apps but they should be done soon. I have read so much on this site about how the waiting was the worst part but I didn't believe it until now. I can't wait until some decisions are made!