dejosco

Exciting! Mine falls under "Response to Pathogens". I'd been in contact with a couple faculty there and attended one of their recruiting events, but I don't recall anything being said about interviews. I just assumed they're doing interviews like everyone else. I'm sure we'll hear something soon!

Yep! One of my top choices. Which area are you interested in?

Congrats! Was this a mass email sent to other people as well? Trying to figure out whether they're sending out invites in waves.

Well, may the odds be in our favor! This is one of my top choices, so I'm really banking on this.

Has anyone heard from the CMDB program at Johns Hopkins University?

Is there anyone else applying to PhD programs this fall that is currently a NIH-funded PREP scholar somewhere?

To quell anyone's anxiety and/or aid anyone in making the proper arrangements, Hopkins PREP made their offers in the second week of March.

I agree with the previous answers to this question. To add relevant information—I know several UGA PREP alumni that are now at “more prestigious”, like U Chicago and peer institutions.

I’m hoping the same for you! Yes, they have.

It really depends on the program. I and someone else in my cohort are spending two years in my program. Fortunately, everyone else in the cohort has gotten into a PhD program! I think that PREP programs can be good for showing you can simultaneously handle the rigors of research and graduate level coursework, but make sure that you manage your time wisely. Generally, the emphases of PREP programs are the research experiences.

Harvard University and UChicago do send out final admissions decisions, they’re just not until much later in the summer. If you don’t hear anything by March or April from either of these schools, I’d say it would not be unsafe to assume that you need to consider elsewhere. For reference, I got an interview from Harvard and UChicago in the second week of March.

An interview where?

I'm so sorry that you didn't get any acceptances. Just try to figure out where your application was lacking, then spend time building that area. Fortunately, there are many paths to graduate school.

Yes, a lot of this information was poster earlier in the thread.

I highly agree with neurooooo. I would also highly advise taking more than a few months to do research before applying to PhD programs considering your outcome with PREP programs.

I got an interview from UChicago and Harvard (declined both though).

Just as a heads up: Brown has sent/is sending out interview invitations. I received one, but declined as I already committed elsewhere.

Oh, absolutely! Fortunately there are career opportunities for those that want to not only train as scientists, but also become involved as advocates.

It sounds like you could greatly benefit from taking some time to gain a greater understanding of what exactly it is you want out of a career and what exactly it is you could see yourself doing with an advanced degree, whether that be a PhD, MD-PhD, or MD. You make "this information" more understandable to the public by publishing. Doing research isn't about just fiddling about in a lab doing experiments--it's about expanding the frontier of human knowledge. If you play your cards right, you will also be able to share this information outside of the context of scientific journals (e.g., review articles, Popular Science articles, TED Talks, etc.) that will allow for this information to be shared in a way that is more understandable to people that lack the technical knowledge we as life scientists have. All research, even basic science, is done with hope it will someday have an impact. If you are interested in research that is more translationally focused, it would probably be advantageous for you to look into public health graduate programs or translational research programs. Additionally, bear in mind that having an MD does not preclude you from doing research. Luckily, there is a place in research for people with a vast array of interests!

Yeah, JHU did interviews! Unless you already have a substantial amount of research experience already, it would probably be more advantageous to utilize your gap year to gain research experience in some way.

I was offered an interview from Harvard earlier last week, so I'm assuming that they've got the ball rolling. I'm not sure about the other places you mentioned though.

I will tell you-- and this is confirmed information-- that UChicago begins making offers before the due date. If they do not fill up their spots before the due dates, then they will consider later applications. Unfortunately, this information isn't made clear on their website.

They both got to me on Friday.

I declined an interview offer from UChicago and UC Davis, in addition to withdrawing my applications from Harvard, Brown, and Tufts to accept an admissions offer for Johns Hopkins PREP! My fingers are crossed for you all!

I'm a Leadership Alliance alumnus as well! I haven't accepted the offer from Case, but I am going to request if I can have an additional week to consider. I'll message you back! I'm actually highly interested in infectious disease research! It's not as big of a thing at the Cleveland Clinic as cancer biology, but they still have excellent research going on in the area. I'm highly considering their Molecular Medicine PhD program.