[Interviews? What do they look for?]

In some cases (this varies by filed, department, college, and institution), there is a scoring process that occurs during the interview process. Whether this is done numerically on paper or subjectively in the faculty members' minds, filtering occurs.

They want to know that the person they've read about on paper aligns with the person sitting in front of them in the interview. They want you to expand upon what you've written and explain your goals verbally. You said you want to work on X with Faculty Y, but do you really?

They want to know how you communicate face to face and interact with others. What you say and how you say it has an impact on how you're perceived. Do you really fit with any of the faculty in the department? Do your goals match with theirs?

These are just some of the things they'll look at when evaluating you.

Of course they evaluate you, that wasn't my question. My question was, is it safe to assume that you are free from judgment over grades and scores?

[Interviews? What do they look for?]

Once you get an interview at a school, can you assume that you will no longer be judged by your statistics?

If 50 people get interviewed and 30 get in, what is the criteria? Is it just best "match" and best impression? Do I no longer have to worry about my scores and grades?

Or is there another numerical filter?

[How competitive are bioinformatics grad programs?]

I have a MS in bioinformatics so I know a little about the bioinformatics landscape...

BINF is a really new field and there isn't any real rigid criteria and/or standards. Also, bioinformatics and computational biology are very similar and often the same thing with different names at different schools....hopefully in the future academia will adopt one name.

Anyway, because of how new it is there really isn't a set "ranking" and profs/students in the field just have differing opinions on the strengths of various programs.

1. Georgia Tech has the oldest BINF PhD program in the US. However, it's competitiveness depends on which "home school" you apply to. You can get a BINF degree from school of biology, school of biomedical engineering, cs, etc...

2. UCSF is pretty well regarded and competitive

3. Princeton has a program called "quantitative and computational biology"

4. CMU has a computational biology program that is housed in their cs department, which is ranked 1 in the nation. Because of this, it has high potential for reputation and growth

5. There are a lot of others...but again, no one really know their relative competitiveness

[CMU-Pitts joint Ph.D. in Computational Biology]

I got interview offer from CMU comp bio on Jan 24th by email. GL to rest of you guys

wuy...which weekend are you going to? maybe we can meet each other there? hehe

[CMU-Pitts joint Ph.D. in Computational Biology]

I received an invite to the interview weekend...I'm not sure how many but it must be a lot because they are having two weekends and you can choose which one you want to go to

[bioinformatics , anyone?!]

really later response, but georgia tech has the oldest bioinformatics phd program in the country

[Uncertainty of gradschool future is farting on my strategies to find a job]

Yes, I am in a very similar situation.

I have a MS and recently got offered a job at the CDC, which would start mid Feb. But they want a long term commitment (at least 1.5 years) because it is a full-time job. They would prefer a commitment of multiple years.

However, I have applied to PhD schools and already have a couple interviews.

I don't know what to do. Should I reject the offer before it starts? Should I defer my acceptances? Should I just accept the offer then quit after 5-6 months? After all, it is a dog-eat-dog world out there and you have to take your best opportunities. Maybe I will love the CDC and decide PhD is not for me right now?

Any thoughts?

[Interviews Notified at Once?]

I am not sure about your specific program. But the programs that I applied send their interview requests in waves. You can ask the department if they are done sending interview requests.

Dont loose hope till you get that rejection letter!

Hey! I noticed that you are applying to cs/bioinformatics programs! I am applying to some of those as well along with bioengineering.

Specifically, I applied to:

UCSF( Bioinf.)

Princeton (QCB)

Georgia Tech (Bioinf.)

UCI (Mathematical, Computational Bio.)

Carnegie Mellon (Computational Bio CS Program)

I got rejected from UCSF but I have interviews for UCI and CMU's CS program

[Interviews Notified at Once?]

Hi,

I noticed in the results that a couple applicants have received interview invitations to the MIT biological eng. PhD dept. Furthermore, they received them on the same date. If I haven't received one myself, is it safe to assume that I got rejected? Or does MIT email out interview acceptances in phases? Anyone know?

[Seeking Advice - Low GPA, Everything Else Perfect]

Hello,

I am a current graduate student (Master's) at Georgia Tech and I am looking to apply to PhD schools in the fall.

When I was an undergrad, my GPA was a 2.8 in engineering because of personal issues (my mother passed away and I was seriously depressed with psychiatry for 1 year). I was a President's Scholar at GT (50 out of each incoming freshman class every year) and my GPA fell from 3.5 to 2.1. Only after I battled my depression was I able to pull it up to 2.8 over my last 3 semesters at GT.

I was accepted into a Master's program at GT only because of my circumstances, I am almost certain of it. My GPA in my Master's program is a 4.0 and I have been doing research as a graduate student. However, I have no publications yet. I hope to have one approved for publication by August.

My GRE Q is 790. I am hoping to retake it to hit 800Q since high Q for GRE is so common for engineers.

I am interested in applying to TOP programs such as MIT, Berkely, Stanford, etc. Do I have a chance with my 2.8 undergrad GPA? I would really like to think that my high grad GPA and extenuating circumstances could overcome my low undergrad GPA but I have my doubts. I feel that my background for the fields that I am applying to is perfect and that I have a desirable application except that undergrad GPA...

I am trying to avoid generic advice such as "get good recs and get published". Rather, I was wondering if anyone can provide any evidence of people they know who have been accepted to top schools with circumstances like mine?

It would really disappoint me if the system is set up so that no one can pick themselves up to the front of the pack again once they have fallen.

Thanks in advance