fearfulocelot

Not awarded, 1st year student E/VG VG/VG, E/VG I got some good feedback (including someone who thought I had a 4.0 grad GPA--lol, I had no reported graduate scores at the point when I applied) and was overall mentioned as a strong candidate. Probably should've detailed my outreach plans better! Oh well, live and learn. I'm disappointed too but please remember, it's all a crapshoot and it isn't "rigged" and nobody is "out to get you". It's a large pool of candidates and if you didn't get it it's not personal!

That was me last season! It's not a fun feeling, but everything will work out. PM me if you'd like to talk.

No, just no interview email. So many people posted their interview notices at once yesterday that I figured it was a one-time mass email, though it may be coming in waves. I don't want to be too greedy since I've already had good interviews and acceptances...but I'd love to have the choice to stay in Boston for personal reasons.

Aw dammit, looks like no interview from BU for me then.

Do you know if they're still planning on the Feb 24-26 interview weekend? Seems a bit of a tight fit. Honestly this doesn't make me very confident in the BU GPN's administration. Something hinky's going on.

I haven't heard either, and I don't see anything in the database (except someone about to lose their shit lol). I guess they're going to make us wait for it this year.

This is terribly embarrassing, but I managed to apply and interview without realizing they were separate programs. I am being considered for the neuroscience PhD through the medical school and the DelMonte Institute of Neuroscience.

Currently at the first interview for Rochester (and stuck here, it's snowing quite hard, but that's another story) and it seems like they've finalized the interview list, sorry! 16 people in the first interview and 19 in the second interview.

UNC BBSP has sent all interviews, they have a waitlist and people might be coming off it until mid-January. I think someone asked the admissions department. BU, if you mean Boston University Graduate Program in Neuroscience, won't be out til end of January.

I worked as a undergrad tech in two labs which gave me a bunch of mouse experience, so I got hired on as a colony manager. I applied to maybe 20-30 jobs and got 2-3 interviews and took this one because of the location and research. It's a tiny lab so it didn't take much time until I was able to lead projects and plan experiments. My advice is to talk up your experience without lying, and apply to any job even if you don't feel you meet the requirements. You can be trained, especially if you're dedicated and you have even a little related experience.

My mentors have been wonderful to me and I'm sure your would be too. After going through a rough patch after not getting any interviews last round, one mentor contacted the admissions office on my behalf and gave me some really important notes and tips for this round. My current PI gave me a hug and reminded me that she had worked as a seamstress for ten years between her master's degree and PhD. An undergrad mentor told me that she also took three rounds to get into a PhD program (she's currently TT-faculty) and that she knew I was a good scientist and would make it there. Your mentors are your mentors because they believe in you, and they know that people who go straight from one place to another, no bends in the road, are extremely rare. Don't call it a hump or a setback--it's just part of your research career narrative and after retelling it a few times it will make sense.

I'm an RA/lab manager. This would be my third year in this position. I meant to go straight from undergrad to PhD, worked as an undergrad RA for many years and even published as an undergrad, but I got very sick senior year of university and wasn't able to apply. Worked for a year as a medical lab tech, applied to grad school, got into a few places but realized I had no idea what I was doing and probably wasn't in a good place to start graduate school, and the school that accepted me wasn't a great fit anyway. So I turned down that school, quit my job, took a job in research, worked a year, applied again, rejected without interview from 13 schools (still trying to work that one out, tbh), applied for jobs, decided to stay in my job, applied to schools again, with much more luck this time. I'm also trying to publish a first author manuscript sometime in the next couple months. My personal statement makes it out to be like, a coherent narrative but really life is weird and things are complicated. As an undergrad, I was terrified of joining the workforce instead of professional school because it seemed so open-ended, but it really hasn't been so bad as long as you have a goal in mind and a plan B (mine is to go into industry--at this point I have 6+ years of bench experience and can go in as a master'a equivalent). I don't think I would've been a very good grad student if I had gone straight from UG to grad. I've learned a lot of useful things as a technician/RA/lab manager, both bench things and general life management skills. You get one run at a PhD generally, it doesn't hurt to be a more prepared, experienced, and mature researcher.

Nope, round number 3 in 4 years! Goddamn but I've earned putting 'tenacious' on my personal statements.

I applied to GPN, yep! Monday to Wednesday is actually a good idea--unable to get an overlap with the traditional Thursday-Saturday interview. No clue, though they are all moderately different. Behavioral neuro is especially clinical/human research focused and in another school might be part of the psych department.

Monday-Wednesday? Interesting strategy! Fingers crossed

Thanks so much! I will DM you.

Thanks for the info! Do you have any idea whenabouts the interview will be? I assume quite late since they send invites so late, but I really like the BU program and don't want to miss the chance to interview.

Just found a interview invite buried in my spam box, with a response deadline of 1/4 (UMass Amherst). Nearly had a heart attack. Check your spam boxes, everyone! And holy fuck Gmail, why the hell?

Does anyone know if UNC Chapel Hill is done? It seems like they've sent out a round of BBSP interview emails but I can't figure out if that's all of them at once.

I got an email from them on 12/20: I hope this letter finds you well and I am grateful for the time you took to consider and apply to our Graduate Program in Neuroscience. After careful consideration of your submitted application materials to the Graduate Program in Neuroscience at the University of Minnesota, I have the pleasure to inform you that your application has passed our initial round of review. Our expert review panel found your application very competitive amongst the 175 applications received, moving it forward for further review onJanuary 7, 2019. Only 70 have advanced to this round, so let me congratulate you personally on this achievement thus far! I will be in contact with you shortly thereafter to provide you with an update about the status of your application. Please keep in mind that, if invited, our GPN Retreat/Interview Weekend will take place on February 8-10, 2019. Thank you again for applying to our Program and I wish you a Happy Holiday season! On one hand, I'm glad they're so eager to keep me informed (certainly nobody else is). On the other hand, it's not a super useful piece of information, especially as they aren't telling us how many people are going to be invited to their interview.