CarmenCarminis

I've been waitlisted at my top choice school. They said they would try to inform us before April 15th, but I know they might not given that people will wait until the last minute to decline/accept offers. I'm planning on accepting my second choice on the 15th. With the deadline coming up and no word yet about the waitlist, my question is: how bad does it look if I withdraw, if by some small chance my first choice accepts me off the waitlist after the 15th? Should I send an email to the second choice school to warn them there's a small chance I'll withdraw? Or ask them for an extension?

First, congrats on getting accepted into both of those! Having to chose between schools is a good problem to have, and those are both top-notch programs. If you like a similar number of faculty at both, I'd probably go with the one that you feel more comfortable at. If you felt like you clicked better with the students and faculty at UCSF, then I'd trust that instinct. These are going to be the people you spend the next several years with, after all, so I think it's important you find the right fit. I would try not to worry about not being good enough (which I realize is easier said than done). That being said, there's nothing wrong with choosing the "safer" option if that's the better fit. (Grad school is going to be stressful enough either way.) But both are great choices, and I don't think there's a "wrong" answer here.

Nope. I'm waitlisted there too, and it's my first choice. Hoping they tell us before the 15th.

What should I prioritize when choosing between multiple offers for a PhD program? I’d assumed it would be the research, but now I’m having second thoughts. Here’s the dilemma. I’ve been waitlisted at my top choice school, and while I’m hopeful that I’ll get in, it’s an extremely competitive program, so I’m not counting on it. I have other offers, but I didn’t like any of them as much as the school that waitlisted me, and I’m having a difficult time deciding between them: School A — I really enjoyed my interviews here. A lot of the faculty here are doing research in the specific area I want to study, and I left several of the interviews thinking that I’d be interested in rotating in their lab. While I liked the professors, I didn’t feel that I fit in with the other grad students as well. Additionally, it’s in a location that I don’t like (both in regards to the climate, and the fact that going there would require me to get a car, which I really don’t want to do). This school does seem big on preparing students for the kind of careers I see myself in, but they don’t have the exact degree program I wanted. School B — Maybe it was just because I was really nervous (these were my first interviews), but I didn’t enjoy the talking with the faculty here as much. Most of their research didn’t seem as interesting to me as I’d expected. (Admittedly this is only for the faculty who I interviewed with.) But I like the school, the program, and location better than school A. It’s in a city (which I like), though I’m concerned about the safety of the area. Not that it really matters, but school B is far more prestigious than A. And both of these offers are funded, so I’m not worried about money. I guess what I’m wondering is whether the fact that I liked pretty much everything else about school B better outweighs the fact that although they’re doing great research, not much of it stood out as very exciting to me.

I still haven't heard back from UCSD BMS and Berkeley MCB, but I know other people have gotten invites. At this point, should I assume I've been rejected? Also, I've heard MIT bio is particularly difficult to get accepted to post-interviews compared to other schools. Does anyone know if this is true?