M246

Hi,
Has anyone heard back after the interview weekends at Mayo? I saw a few acceptances for the immunology track and was curious. 

I brought my iPad (big boi version) and took notes during a faculty presentation section (which may or may not occur for your interview visit), however, I did not really use the iPad/my notes during the chats/interviews. I did ask to refer to them once, but it was very quick and very late in the day.
I think profs aren't expecting too much, so just be on the ball when they discuss their research (either as part of a presentation, or if they regale you before the interview) and think up and remember some questions (harder than I am making it sound, but simple questions are often the most incisive). God I abuse parentheticals...

Please any needful advice for the upcoming interview  will be welcomed
 

Interview acceptance rates vary as the person above said. Different programs have different strategies because they'll have a specific quota in mind (e.g. they want to take 15 students) and they look at historical acceptance rates. They also have different budgets on how many people they can bring to visit (because of program funding or how many applications they get to pay for the other students) and use different strategies on how they evaluate people post-interview. For example, some programs will re-rank candidates post-interview via committee and some are merely making sure the student is a good fit.
You can generally estimate that the acceptance rate is 50% and then it varies beyond that point. For the last program I interviewed with, one could do the math on what they said their target enrolled student count was and historical attendance rates (how many students actually attend) and it was obvious their acceptance rate was greater than 75% to be able to meet that quota. However, a previous interview mentioned their acceptance rate post-interview was more like 40%.
They also will sometimes vary from year to year because a previous class size was bigger/smaller than they wanted, so they'll raise/lower the numbers the next year to make up for that. For example, if their previous class had an unusually high attendance rate, their funding may be overburdened so they'll lower the acceptance rate of the next class.

For emory and Upenn, although I am applying for comp biol, I think they have already interviewed most bio programs. Hope they'll have make-up interviews, but very very unlikely...good luck for your UChicago and Scripps though....
 
Also, they are all very competitive programs...although I believe you are definitely competitive too and at least have some self-confidence....it is highly not recommended for internationals just applying for those very competitive programs because each of them only accepts very few internationals (mostly 1-2)....you probably need some safe schools like CU Denver, UCSC, UThealth-MDAnderson those very good but less well-known programs. Emory might be a good safe if you are good enough, but one safe will not actually make you really safe since you never know where those top internationals are applying for and if programs already have applicants with strong connections they have to say yes.

Do you have any advice for someone interviewing for Mayo Clinic fall 2020?

Most programs I've heard admits more than half post-interview, expecting only a portion of the accepted applicants to actually attend (even "top" programs may have a pretty low yield rate, since the same outstanding applicants would usually get multiple offers from other top programs). However some (like mine) first admits n students where n = number of actual spots, and almost everyone else who interviewed is put on a waitlist; again a considerable number of accepted students don't come, so they sometimes go pretty far down the waitlist. If the program has only 1 interview weekend, they usually reach a decision *very* soon (like, they meet on the Monday after and call you on Tuesday) so have your phone turned on / check your emails.
Attire can vary and you can simply ask the admin/director for the dress code, but most places do business casual (though some applicants would still choose to go full on business attire). I wore a sweater dress and boots, which is the furthest I'd go to adhere to dress codes.
There's already a lot of info out there on what to expect at interviews, please use the search function wisely; you'll get more meaningful responses if you post what specifically you're asking about.

Would it be possible for current life-sciences graduate students to give advice on interview weekends?
What to expect, how to dress, acceptance chances after interviews and other relevant information.
 
Thanks!! ?

For the program in my current school. (2017) 25 students got the interview, 18 offers were made, 15 students accepted the offer.
 

I heard the hardest part is actually getting an interview, tho I would also really like to know about the chances of being admitted after interviews!

There are three date options. 
1) Feb 13 - 15
2) Feb 27 - 29
3) March 5 - 7

I heard back today from UNC (rejection) and City of Hope (interview). Good luck everyone!

I applied to Harvard EEB and I haven't heard back yet. I think they get back to applicants in January from what I have been reading. So let's wait and see how this month turns out 

UNC BBSP, Vanderbilt and Case.
 
 
 

The same here... Applied to 9 programs in total (international student), and haven't heard back from any of them... I saw in this thread that some of them are done sending invites, but can't understand why they don't send rejections if I am already rejected.

(International student)
Got my first rejection from Gerstner Sloan Kettering!   Interview at Mt Sinai for Cancer Biology for now. 

The 2 most common tracks are industry or academia. Industry being pharmaceutical and biotech companies. In those you could do well with just a bachelors, but a masters and a PhD would increase pay, and a PhD would increase autonomy (depending on the position/company). Depending on the field and what you want, academia could mean professor/principal investigator, or research scientist.
Other than those there are "non traditional" options like science writing, science policy, consulting, etc.
If you're in undergrad currently, I recommend looking for internships that would give you a taste for science application so you can decide what you want. If you want to do something that requires more specialized knowledge that your bio degree didn't get you, consider a masters. If you love research and see yourself doing it fora long time, consider a PhD.

that's okay, thanks for the update!

Hey all!
International applicant here that also hasn't heard back from anywhere.
I've applied to NYU Sackler Biomedical Sciences, Johns Hopkins CMM, Penn State Biomedical Sciences, and Roswell Park Cancer Sciences.
Hopefully we find out more by the end of this week! I'll let you all know any news I hear. Hopefully no news is good news indeed!
 

Thank you everyone!! I've emailed my prof and now have my whole body crossed hoping they read it on time. ?

I would still send out an email to the professor. If you have already spoken to him about submitting a letter, a polite reminder should be fine. The sooner you send it today, the higher his chances of seeing the email. I am not sure about late submissions though. Hope this helps!

I would still send out an email to the professor. If you have already spoken to him about submitting a letter, a polite reminder should be fine. The sooner you send it today, the higher his chances of seeing the email. I am not sure about late submissions though. Hope this helps!

I would still send out an email to the professor. If you have already spoken to him about submitting a letter, a polite reminder should be fine. The sooner you send it today, the higher his chances of seeing the email. I am not sure about late submissions though. Hope this helps!

Yale BBS wrote to me this message:
Thank you for your message.  The Yale Biological and Biomedical Sciences office will be closed beginning Monday, December 23 and will reopen on Thursday, January 2.  Please note the following important information:Our application deadline was December 1. Although we are accepting late applications until January 2nd, we cannot guarantee that late submissions will receive full consideration.Applicants residing in the US will be invited in December or very early January for on-campus interviews that will take place in February.  Overseas applicants will be invited for Skype interviews at a later date.
From Penn State Biomedical Sciences
All international applicants currently residing outside of the US will be reviewed in early/mid January and decisions regarding Skype interviews will be made at that time.
From NYU Biomedical Sciences
Thank you for the follow up. While we have sent some invitations to interview, we have not sent any acceptances or rejections. Our interview dates are January and February, so you could hear from us anytime between now and the end of February.
Relax guys and take it easy.

Welp, the holiday distraction is over and I'm back to being a ball of stress lol. Hope everyone had a chance to relax if you had time off!