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JHML

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Posts posted by JHML

  1. On 2/24/2019 at 1:07 PM, aheather said:

    I posted about the Rhodes ages ago and didn't get any responses. 

    Basically, I'm finding it hard to penetrate the mystique of the Rhodes and get real answers on application questions. I would welcome ANY information (or commiseration) from anyone, at this point.

    This is the last year I'm eligible (age-wise) for the Rhodes, so I'm going to apply. I have a pretty compelling through-line from my work in college, to my Fulbright post-college, to my professional career post-Fulbright. But I need more education in order to do work with a greater impact, hence, applying to Oxford.

    My college has already told me that they'll put me forward as a candidate. They haven't gotten a Rhodes since the 1970s, so... those are bad odds.... It's a state school, but the honors college of the state university system, and I don't know how that fares in the app process against prestigious institutions. I've noticed a whole lot of Harvard grads on lists of current scholars...

    I'm also floundering a bit on where to academically focus. Obviously there are a lot of fantastic options, and I've been lucky enough to be interested in and study a very wide variety of topics. It seems like most Rhodes folks are STEM or politics focused, and I'm decidedly more humanities. Is that going to drag down my chances?

    Is it bad to have a few years out of college (most current scholars seem to be right out of school) to have lived a bit of a life? Will the Fulbright be any real kind of boon, given that it was only an ETA grant and not a research one?

     

    AHhhhh???? 

    I'm not a Rhodes Scholar, but I am an American student from a rural state school who's been accepted to pursue a DPhil in the sciences at Oxford, with full funding.

    Regarding your last question, whether your Fulbright ETA would be any boon, you've already answered the question yourself! Unless I misunderstood, you said at the beginning of your post that you have a compelling narrative from your undergraduate to your Fulbright ETA and now to your professional career and desire to pursue further education. If your Fulbright gave you first-hand experiences which are now contributing to your desire to continue your studies, definitely describe that and it'll be a huge boon. But I don't think that name-dropping Fulbright on its own does you any favors or any disservice, unless you can connect it to the motivations underlying your current application in a meaningful way.

    Is it bad to have been out of school? No, not necessary. My anecdote along similar lines is that I failed most my classes and dropped out after undergraduate freshman year. I took a year off before returning to university. In a vacuum, neither being out of school as you've been nor being a former drop-out as I am looks good. But applications are not reviewed in a vacuum. Your application should tell a story. I connected my experiences into a cohesive, compelling narrative when submitting my application materials and (with a bit of serendipity no doubt) ended up getting fully-funded offers from both Ivy League schools and Oxford. My experiences are part of my narrative, and I wouldn't be the same candidate without them. In that way, my nontraditional path certainly hasn't hurt me and yours won't necessarily hurt you either.

    My final piece of advice is... from an academic perspective, why Oxford? You may want further education for your professional career, but that does not answer the question of why you would like to study at this particular institution. As a prospective student, Oxford (and indeed any university) will be looking for an argument as to you need to study there specifically, why their program is uniquely equipped to address your academic interests. The answer is almost inextricably linked to your academic interests, which is why it is important to decide how you want to specialize sooner than later.

  2. 2 hours ago, Pink Freud said:

    Hey! I'm still waiting to hear back from UCLA, Harvard, UTSW, Drexel, and Boston (GPN). Has anyone heard from them yet? 

    I received my interview invitation from the UCLA NSIDP on December 20th, 2018. They requested confirmation of my attendance no later than January 2nd, 2019, so I imagine they probably are not sending out any more invitations. :(

  3. On 1/17/2019 at 2:25 PM, sunnyyiu627 said:

    did anyone here apply to Oxford? Have you heard from them?

    Just heard from the Oxford Wellcome Trust 4-year Programme today! I'm interviewing on Jan. 31. It'll be a 10-minute presentation about my research, followed by 20 minutes of discussion with a panel of faculty. They will reimburse me up to £500 in travel expenses to and from the UK.

    Aaaaahhh, I'm so excited!!! This is my dream program!

  4. 35 minutes ago, sunnyyiu627 said:

    did anyone here apply to Oxford? Have you heard from them?

    Which program? I applied to the Wellcome Trust Doctoral Training Programme, and I've heard nothing. But then again, I would expect results to be sent out next week probably. After all, while the interview period is approaching fast, they closed the application window less than a week ago.

  5. With interview season coming up and decision season to follow, one of the more important questions many of us face is which lab we would like to join. Just as the title says, I'm curious what catches your eye as you scroll through dozens and dozens of faculty research statements! Below, I have listed (in no particular order) a few of the things I really pay attention to in a prospective research lab. After all, I (hopefully!) will be spending about five years in whichever lab I choose.

    • Unique model organism - I have a soft spot for the labs that conduct research in organisms besides rodents and humans. Fish, birds, amphibians, reptiles, unique mammals -- bring 'em on!
    • Evidence of funding - If a lab displays active grant support, there's a higher chance I may receive a research assistantship in that lab. Having at least the option to choose whether or not to TA would be nice. Also, collaboration between labs is super rad so bonus points if the grant was awarded to a couple co-PIs.
    • Interesting work - Obvious, but important. Recent publications should be interesting to me.
    • Evidence of work/life balance - Finally, it's hard to overstate how much I appreciate seeing photos of community activities on a lab website. Outdoorsy stuff, a meal together, a silly photo or two. Anything that convinces me I will have a reprieve from the work of my PhD, at least once in a while. ?

    What do you all look for? ^^

  6. Hey everyone. ?

    I applied for 10 neuroscience programs. I have a background outside of the biological sciences, but I have a year and a half of research experience (mostly outside of neuroscience). No publications, though I think I'm a good essay-writer and I had enthusiastic letters of recommendation. I just wanted to share, I have been:

    Offered an interview at: UCLA, UCI, UC Davis, Brown

    Not offered an interview at [waiting on official rejection]: U Washington, UC Berkeley

    Waiting to hear from: Stanford, McGill [Canada], Oxford (Wellcome Trust) [England], Max Planck School of Cognition [Germany]

    I found this thread as I was looking for information about Stanford admissions decisions. Stanford's website's FAQ originally said interview invitations will be sent out this week (the week of January 7th), but the website was subsequently changed to say "early- to mid-January". One can still find a cached version of the old website on Google to compare with the live website and verify this fact. Perhaps this implies that they are delayed in reviewing applications and some invitations will be extended next week. (That could explain why the website was changed to no longer promise an invitation be extended this week.) But that might also just be self-serving speculation to keep my hopes up! ?

    In any case, I look forward to meeting my potential cohorts at each of these universities! If anyone is curious, I can share which interview sessions I have selected for the programs which have offered me interviews.

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